An Indian widower has installed a life-sized wax statue of his late wife in the dream home they were building together before she passed away in a tragic car accident.
Businessman Srinivas Gupta unveiled the statue at a housewarming party, held on Aug. 7 at his new family home in Koppal, a city in India’s southern state of Karnataka. The new family home was his late wife Madhavi’s idea, but she passed away in a car crash in 2017 before the construction work had finished.
To commemorate her, and lend her presence to the home, Gupta installed the statue of his beloved late wife.
The wax statue of Srinivas Gupta’s late wife, Madhavi. (Courtesy of Gupta Family)Pictures from the party show the statue of Madhavi sitting on a couch wearing a pink saree and gold jewelry. The statue is incredibly lifelike, down to the individual strands of hair around her temples and the lines on her skin.
“The planning for the house was all done by her and we couldn’t imagine entering this new house without her,” Anusha, one of Gupta’s two daughters, told CNN.
Madhavi and the two girls were in the car together during the accident in 2017. Madhavi died at the scene, while her daughters sustained minor injuries.
“We had a great bond,” Anusha said. “It all happened in a few minutes when she left us. We couldn’t digest the fact that she was no longer with us.”
A file photo of Madhavi before she died in a car accident in 2017. (Courtesy of Gupta Family)The new home was something Madhavi “always dreamed about,” Anusha said, and it didn’t feel right to move in without her.
Someone suggested the family get a wax statue made. So, after consulting with several people, Gupta and his daughters contacted Shridhar Murthy, an artist and sculptor based in Bengaluru City.
After the statue was completed and the construction done, the family moved in in the first week of August. Madhavi’s statue was the center of attention, with many posing on the couch beside it and posting images on social media, where the story quickly went viral.
The Gupta family before the car accident. (Courtesy of Gupta Family)Now, the Gupta family says they will keep the statue in the courtyard of their new home.
“She used to enjoy the outdoors,” Anusha said. “We want her to stay with us, just how she used to be.”
The CNN Wire contributed to this report.
