MUMBAI: The Ghatkopar landslide wiped out an entire family that had arrived in Mumbai just four days ago, hoping to make a fresh start.Arif Shaikh, a tailor by profession, had moved to Ashok Nagar in Ghatkopar West with his wife Marjina and two young children, Mannat and Aban. His sister was already living in the area. His father Mohammed Ali, who lives in Titwala, was inconsolable at the post-mortem centre at Rajawadi Hospital. “I sent my son to Mumbai believing he would build a better future for his family. Today, I am returning to take back the bodies of my son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren,” he said with tears in his eyes.The family, originally from Jaunpur, had come to Mumbai in search of a better life and a more secure future for their children. Relatives said Arif was optimistic about finding work and had high hopes of building a better life for his family. His wife, a homemaker, also wanted to look at doing odd jobs to help her husband financially.Rubina, who was Marjina’s sister, said that the family had barely begun settling into their new life when tragedy struck. “They had rented a small place here because I and Arif’s sister were already living in the area. A day after they arrived, we took them around the city and showed them Mumbai. We never imagined that just days later, we would lose all four of them,” she said. Rubina’s husband, Khurshid, who works at film shoot sites, had called Arif to Mumbai and helped him find the low-rent accommodation near the hill. “They had come with so many hopes of starting afresh,” she said.
