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'Our world's finished; we thought UK is the safest in the world'
Shattered by what they called was an incomprehensible loss, the parents of slain Indian student Anuj Bidve hope that the man responsible for the "senseless" killing of their only son would be brought to justice.
As they headed back to India on Friday with the body of their son, the distraught parents said they had chosen to send Anuj to the UK, preferring the European nation over other destinations like the US and Australia, believing it would be the safest for him.
However, they said they were "overwhelmed" by the expressions of support from the people, both in the UK and India, and were optimistic about the British police's handling of the case.
"There are no words, the world is finished for us, this is what I can say," a sorrowful Subhash Bidve, the father of the 23-year-old, told reporters in Salford, as his wife stood with him, silently wiping off her tears.
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'The only person we blame is the man responsible for taking Anuj away from us'
The parents visited the place in Greater Manchester where their son was shot dead on December 26.
Earlier, in a statement, the family said: "We do not blame the people of this city for what happened. The only person we blame is the man responsible for taking Anuj away from us in such a senseless act of violence on Boxing Day morning".
A 20-year-old youth, called "Psycho Stapleton" has been charged with Anuj's murder and remanded in custody until a plea and case management hearing on March 20.
Three other people arrested on suspicion of Anuj's murder have been granted bail until March pending further inquiries.
A fourth man, aged 19, had his bail cancelled.
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'We have made the journey from India in order to see Anuj'
The parents, who said they were "shattered" on seeing the body of their son, flew back with it to Pune where the funeral is likely to take place on Saturday evening.
Hoping that justice would come to Anuj, Bidve said their objective of visiting the UK was to witness first hand the place where their son was shot dead so as to keep his memories alive all their life.
"That is the reason we were here and to offer our last prayers at the place where he was shot," Bidve said answering questions at length.
"We have made the journey from India in order to see Anuj, see the place where he died, and most importantly take Anuj home with us," the statement by the Bidve family said.
Bidve said his family was yet to assess what their future would be like without Anuj, whom he described as "a very nice and humble person".
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'We cannot comprehend this dreadful tragedy'
"The impact is very big. We do not know, we will have to think about our future and in this old age, how we will be able to handle this," Bidve said.
Asked about what he felt of the police's response in the case, Bidve said he found it "fairly good" and felt police was taking it "very seriously".
"We would like to thank the police for the manner in which this investigation has been conducted. We are confident in the British justice system and sincerely hope that this will eventually bring justice for Anuj," they said.
"Anuj was our only son and we cannot comprehend this dreadful tragedy. The education system in the UK is far better and we thought this is the safest place in the world. We were thinking to send him to the US or Australia but the whole family decided to send him to England for higher education," said Bidve.
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