After fifty years together, Man passes away hours after wife’s burial in Kashmir

November 4, 2025 by News Desk

Shabir Ali

In a poignant end to a five-decade-long companionship, Muhammad Shafi Khan and his wife, Mumtaza Khan, passed away within hours of each other on Sunday, leaving behind a story of devotion that endured through faith, illness, and age.

Mumtaza, a former vice-principal at Caset Experimental School in Srinagar’s Karan Nagar, had been battling cancer for years. Her condition worsened last week after a stroke and haemorrhage, and despite intensive care at SMHS Hospital, she passed away early Sunday morning.

As the family prepared for her funeral, Shafi Khan, a retired general manager affectionately known as “Papa Ji” in his Batamaloo neighbourhood, suddenly grew weak. He had been suffering from chronic kidney disease but had shown no signs of rapid decline. “When we were preparing my aunt for burial, we realised he wasn’t responding properly,” a relative told The Kashmiriyat. “He was rushed to the hospital, but doctors said he had suffered a cardiac arrest. He couldn’t bear the loss.”

Mumtaza’s funeral prayers were held in Rawalpora in the morning, followed by Shafi Khan’s in Batamaloo three hours later. The couple, remembered for their honesty, warmth, and mutual respect, were laid to rest the same day, two farewells for a pair who had lived and departed as one.

“They were inseparable,” the relative said. “My aunt often said she wasn’t worried about herself, only about how he would live without her. She was right, he couldn’t survive even a few hours after she was gone.”

Their story, quiet and enduring, stands as a rare reminder of love that outlasted time and, in the end, transcended even death.