SRINAGAR: In a formal letter dated August 15, 2025, Member of Parliament Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi has urged the Indian Embassy in Tehran to expedite the repatriation process of Saba Rasool Sofi, a fourth-year MBBS student at Urmia University of Medical Sciences in Iran who passed away there.
Her family has appealed for the immediate repatriation of her mortal remains, while local representatives and student bodies are calling for a thorough investigation into alleged medical negligence.. Addressed to Indian Ambassador Rudra Gaurav Shresth, the letter outlines the need for urgent coordination with Iranian authorities and the university to ensure all medico-legal formalities are completed.
“The bereaved family is devastated and understandably distressed,” Mehdi wrote, listing essential details such as Saba’s passport number, her place of study, and contacts in Iran and her family abroad. He emphasised the emotional trauma faced by the family and requested urgent intervention for the return of her remains to India.
Saba Rasool reportedly passed away on August 15, 2025, after experiencing severe health complications. According to family members, she had complained of intense pain two days earlier and was admitted to a hospital in Iran, where her condition deteriorated rapidly despite medical intervention.
The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) has also taken up the matter with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), urging External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar to intervene. In a statement, JKSA alleged gross medical negligence, quoting Saba’s peers who claim her symptoms were not taken seriously and that delays in treatment may have worsened her condition.
“She was kept on normal saline for two days, and no proper monitoring was done,” a friend told JKSA, adding that her transfer to appropriate medical wards was repeatedly delayed. The association cited seizures, unstable vitals, and lack of medical transparency as further points of concern.
Doctors have attributed the cause of death to fulminant hepatic failure combined with pulmonary complications. However, her friends dispute this, stating that the hospital failed to diagnose her condition properly until the end.
The incident has sparked deep anguish in her home locality, where relatives, neighbours, and friends gathered to offer condolences. Community members remembered her as a bright and compassionate young woman with a deep commitment to medicine and service.
Saba, who had been studying in Iran since 2021, was among the Indian students evacuated earlier this year under Operation Sindhu due to regional tensions. She had briefly returned to India before resuming her studies in Iran..
