After losing wife to Covid, man installs her life-like statue in drawing room

Berhampur: Kiran Nayak, wife of Prashant Kumar Nayak, died due to Covid on April 25, 2021. But Prashant, a businessman here, tried to fill the void for his family and three children by installing a life-size silicone statue of his deceased wife in his drawing room.

“We feel the presence of Kiran in our home as if she is sitting on the sofa”, said Prashant. “We always see her in the house and it gives us immense peace of mind,” he said. “A few days after my wife’s death, my children wanted a statue of her in the house so that they wouldn’t feel her absence. I promptly agreed and asked my daughters to contact a sculptor. After the installation of the statue in our home, we are feeling Kiran’s constant presence”, said Prashant.

The life-size statue of Kiran, sitting on the sofa, clad in saree and wearing gold ornaments, was installed earlier this year before the marriage of their elder daughter. Sculptor Shreedhar Murthy from Bengaluru took almost one year to make Kiran’s statue.

The statue is made of fiberglass, silicon and rubber materials to make it durable. It cost Rs 8.12 lakh.

“Shreedhar Murthy is very efficient. We sent him some photographs of Kiran from different angles. He fed it to his computer, created 3D images and shaped the figure. I visited Bengaluru four or five times and he showed me my wife’s figure with much accuracy. I proceeded to create the life-size silicone statue of my wife to give solace to my children”, said Prashant.

Prashant and Kiran were married in 1997 and have three children, including two daughters and a son. The children, who were saddened by the demise of their mother, are now happy to see the life-size silicone statue of their mother. “We feel that mummy is still with us. She was very much attached to us. We felt earlier that we can’t lead a life without her. That’s why we did not accept her demise due to Covid. But the installation of the life-size silicone statue of mummy in our house turned out to be a great solace to all of us. We now feel that she is always with us”, said Prashant’s daughter.

The children often hug the statue and seek the blessings of their mother. Younger daughter Mehak, an MBA student, takes care of the statue by frequently changing saree and ornaments.