Man brings dead wife alive through silicone statue in Odisha

A businessman in Odisha's Berhampur has installed a life-sized silicone statue of his wife after losing her to COVID-19. The statue has been installed in the living room of the residence of the businessman Prashant Kumar Nayak (52) who claims it to be a measure to fill the void of his wife Kiran's absence.

The statue shows Prashant’s dead wife sitting on a sofa clad in a saree and wearing gold ornaments. The deceased woman's younger daughter Mehak, an MBA student, takes care of the statue by frequently changing sarees and ornaments.

“Killer COVID snatched my wife but when I look at this statue, I feel as if she is home with us. She always inspired me when she was alive. I feel deep pain to see her absence, but I’m glad that my children are happy to see their mother,” Nayak said.

“A few days after my wife's death on April 25, 2021, my children wanted a statue of her in the house so that they don't feel her absence. I promptly agreed and asked my daughters to contact a sculptor. A Bengaluru-based sculptor took around one and half a year to create the exact lookalike statue using fibre, rubber and silicone. It cost us around Rs 8 lakh, including transportation cost,” he said.

Nayak said the statue was installed before his elder daughter's marriage so that relatives feel his wife's presence. They married in 1997 and have three children, including two daughters and a son.

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Mehak said that they had given several photographs to the sculptor for perfection and had also visited Bengaluru twice and consulted with him on video calls.

"After the installation of the statue in our home, we are feeling the constant presence of our mother. Daily morning I get the statue ready. I change the saree and the ornaments as if she was getting ready in the house," she said.