Till death us do not part – Heartbroken widower Vijay Kumara replaces his late wife with lifesize marble replica
A heartbroken widower has replaced his late wife with a marble replica of her – and talks to the statue every day.
Vijay Kumara, 70, from Chandigarh, India, lost his beloved spouse Veena to blood cancer four years ago.
But he has found solace in a life-size recreation of her – which weighs a whopping 157st, and measures 5′ 1″.
It took six weeks to transform the stone into a lookalike of Veena in her memory – and now serves as a touching reminder of the couple’s marriage.
The figure has been chiselled and painted to resemble her, featuring painted grey hair and pink Indian traditional dress.
Two cranes were needed to transport the model into Vijay’s home.
Photos show Veena’s statue positioned below a selection of portraits of his late wife as he can be seen embracing her.
The widower has been so lost without his loved one, he has also written five books in memory of her.
He says that he wanted to convey the gravity of the love and affection held between wife and husband to today’s youngsters.
And Vijay is not the first to attempt and immortalise his wife in unique ways.
It was in January revealed that an Indian pensioner who lost his wife of 39 years during the Covid-19 pandemic had spent £2,500 (250,000 rupees) on a life-sized replica doll made in her image.
Retired civil servant Tapas Sandilya, 65, commissioned a sculptor to create a silicone statue of his late partner Indrani, who died on May 4, 2021, aged 59.
She passed away alone in hospital as Tapas was forced to isolate at their home in Kolkata during India‘s second wave of Covid, which proved far more devastating than the first.