Chennai chef duped by scamsters dies in Cambodia, kin need 7 lakh to bring body back home

Chennai: A Chennai youth's dream of landing a job in Cambodia turned into a nightmare when he arrived in the country in 2022. Cheated and forced to survive on a meagre income for more than three years, Vijayakumar, 28, from Ambattur died there on Feb 28, apparently due to stress-induced cardiac arrest.His death was the beginning of a new set of woes for his family. His body is still lying in a Phnom Penh mortuary with officials telling them that it would cost nearly 7 lakh to bring his body back to India, a sum they cannot afford.Vijayakumar, a resident of Padi Raja Street in Ambattur, studied hotel management and worked locally. His father Manickam runs a petty shop, and his younger brother is disabled. In 2022, the family sold land and valuables to pay 3 lakh to an agent based in Dharmapuri, after he promised him a job as a chef in Cambodia. The agent sent him on a tourist visa, promising that a work visa would be arranged soon. However, soon after arriving, Vijayakumar realized that he had been cheated.The promised job and legal arrangements did not materialize, and he was forced to work without a work visa. Later, a local hotel owner gave him job and helped him obtain a work visa for two years. Vijayakumar worked at the hotel along with two friends—Sushil Kumar from Thanjavur and Gopi from Tiruvannamalai. Their situation worsened when the hotel began suffering losses. The employer promised to renew their visas before March this year and send them to India. He could neither get them visas nor pay salary for the past two months. In the early hours of Feb 28, Vijayakumar woke up around 5am, complaining of uneasiness, and suddenly collapsed. He was rushed to a hospital in Phnom Penh, but doctors declared that he had already died due to cardiac arrest.Vijayakumar's family in Chennai is struggling to cope with the double tragedy—the loss of a breadwinner and the financial burden involved in bringing home his mortal remains. His mother, Kavitha, told TOI that the family cannot afford such a huge amount as they survive on daily wages. "My son went abroad hoping to support us because we had no steady income. Now he is dead, and we don't even have the money to bring his body home," she said, appealing to state and Central govts to help bring his body back.Vijayakumar's friend, Kaliram Raja, said: "He went abroad to support them, but he was cheated by an agency and lived under constant stress without proper documents. He did not have any previous medical history."