There’s a memorial come up for a much-loved former character on Emmerdale – but could it also help to bring two family members back together again?
Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson) and Laurel Thomas (Charlotte Bellamy) split up recently after she discovered that he’d told massive lies to his brother Suni (Brahmdeo Shannon Ramana) about what happened with his father Amit (Anil Goutam).
Viewers saw Jai discovering that Amit had been responsible for the death of his own brother Rishi (Bhasker Patel) – the man Jai considered to be his dad even though Amit was his biological dad. Amit had pushed Rishi down the stairs at Holdgate on the day of Jai and Laurel’s wedding.
Jai found his dad at the bottom of the stairs, having apparently accidentally fallen as Amit was nowhere to be seen. It was later revealed that Amit pushed Rishi so he could get his brother’s share of an inheritance.
Jai made Amit pay for this crime by pushing him down the stairs. Amit didn’t die, but suffered a broken leg and Jai kept him locked up in the house, in extreme pain, until he got Amit to agree to leave the country and to leave his shares in HOP to him.
He told Suni that Amit had gone and had left all the shares to him, cutting Suni out of his inheritance. When Laurel found out about this she insisted that Jai should come clean to Suni and following an argument she collapsed, suffering a heart attack.
Recovering in hospital Laurel decided she’d had enough of Jai’s lies, and despite his attempts to make amends to her she insisted on a divorce. She also asked Jai to move back to Holdgate, which upset their children when he insisted on taking Archie (Kai Assi) with him.
On the one year anniversary of Rishi’s death, Jai and Laurel agree that they need to come together as a family to mark the sad occasion and pay their respects to Rishi in a memorial.
The beloved patriarch’s funeral was in India, but Jai brought his ashes back to Emmerdale. The family – including Suni – had a picnic by the river.
After this they scattered Rishi’s ashes into the river and threw in flowers they’d all brought while Jai spoke some heartfelt words thanking Rishi ‘For loving us all.’
