By Graham Huband and Maura Bowman

THE FAMILY of a Dundee law student swept overboard while white-water rafting in Thailand have accepted that the gifted 22-year-old is unlikely to be found alive.

Shenaz Kapoor, a member of the city’s well-known Okhai family, was in Thailand for the summer with a friend from Dundee, who was also on the rafting trip.

Shenaz’s uncle Yusuf Okhai told The Courier last night her family in Dundee has been in regular contact with her brother Amar, who flew out to Thailand as soon as he heard of the accident on Tuesday.

He said, “Amar has been with the people trying to look for her, it was really the only way. We also had some friends out there and so we had someone there to give us information.

“We are now fairly certain that they are not going to find her, that’s the upshot of it. There was hope for a couple of days, because areas were inaccessible, but it now appears that the water levels have dropped back to normal.”

Shenaz had spent the last four weeks working with tsunami victims. The previous year she had spent time working in Guatemala on a similar aid project for children.

Praising his niece, Yusuf said she spent much of her free time working for charities, adding, “They say the good die young. It is easy to give money to charity, but she gave her time, working for others in her holidays.”

He said his sister Mumtaz, the missing girl’s mother, was deep in thought, contemplating her loss with the support of family members. She is now planning to follow her son out to Thailand.

Shenaz was due to begin the final year of her degree at Dundee University in September and was vice-president of the university’s Islamic Society.

She vanished on Tuesday afternoon when her raft capsized as it attempted to negotiate the rapids at Ton Parawat National Park.

A lifejacket was spotted floating down river just a minute after the accident.

Local authorities immediately launched a search, but she has not been seen since.

Her distraught grand- father Ibrahim told of the family’s heartache and paid tribute to the authorities who have helped.

“There was a girl from Dundee University who was with her. There were three or more boats that went out together and Shenaz’s boat capsized. There were five people on it—four were saved but Shenaz just disappeared.

“Her lifejacket was seen floating within one minute of her boat capsizing. I think the current must have taken the lifejacket off her. She was petite and the lifejacket must have been too big.

“We can’t believe it. She was only 22 and was so intelligent.”

He went on, “If they find remains then at least we can close the chapter. Otherwise all sorts of thoughts come to mind.

“I can’t thank the British Consul in Bangkok, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Tayside Police enough. They have been absolutely fantastic.”

A spokesperson for Tayside Police said, “Our officers are assisting the authorities in Thailand and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in liaising with the family at this difficult time.”

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed yesterday that efforts were continuing to locate Shenaz.

The vice-consul of the British Embassy in Bangkok is assisting in the process.

Brothers Aziz, Ibrahim and Bashir Okhai arrived in Dundee in the 1960s and quickly established themselves in the business community.

They jointly ran an export company selling items such as torch batteries, flasks, bags and shirts.

By the 1980s the brothers employed 120 people and took over the landmark Keiller jam factory.

They later wound down their business interests, but their entrepreneurial spirit lives on through Aziz’s son Yusuf, who founded Medea International, which sells computer consumables from its base at Dunsinane Industrial Estate.

Hassan Habib, immediate past president of the Dundee University Islamic Society, said Shenaz represented the “true face of Islam.”

He said Shenaz was a popular figure within the group and the university.

He said he had been in contact with Shenaz’s family since the accident and was “waiting for news.”

“We are absolutely devastated. She was very diligent and very kind and she was devoted to her friends and members of the society.

“She was a true Muslim in the sense of building lives for others, not destroying them. That is the true face of Islam.”

Dundee University said yesterday Shenaz was due to begin the final year of her law degree in September.

Mr Robin White, the course adviser in the School of Law said, “Everyone here at the university is deeply saddened by this terrible news.

“Shenaz was not only a gifted student, she was also a very popular figure within the school, and she will be sadly missed by us all at the university.”

Among Shenaz’s extra-curricular interests was mooting, the practice of legal debate.

She was one of a Dundee University team which took part in the Inter- national Negotiation Competition in Ireland last year, and achieved a higher placing than any other UK competitors.