Help pours in for 4 Kottayam girls orphaned by Covid

Babu and Jolly
Babu and Jolly

Kottayam: Help is pouring in from various quarters for the four girls, who have been left orphaned after their parents died of Covid in Kottayam district.

MLA-designate Mons Joseph was among those who visited their house at Kuruppanthara and promised all help.

The institution, where the eldest daughter Chinju, 25, is studying for physiotherapy, has offered to give her a job. A nearby private hospital has also offered to provide a job to the second daughter Diya Babu, who is pursuing general nursing, according to Mons Joseph.

The third daughter Anju, 18, is in plus-two, while the youngest daughter Riya, 14, is in class 9. Mons Joseph has said that the Gandhiji Study Centre has conveyed the willingness to fund the education of the youngest two children. Kerala Congress chairman P J Joseph is the chairman of the study centre as well. P J Joseph's son Appu John Joseph will visit the family the next day to discuss this.

The family’s only support is their paternal aunt, who has a temporary job at the MG University. Mons Joseph said that her job should be made permanent on humanitarian grounds and that he would draw the chief minister’s attention to this.

Kuruppanthara native Babu, 54, a headload worker died on May 2. Unaware that Babu had died, his wife Jolly also died of Covid 11 days later, leaving their children orphaned. All four girls were also infected with Covid.

The family’s only assets are 10 cents of land and the house. The church has agreed to provide aid to build a bathroom adjacent to the house, according to the children.

Several people have come forward with offers to help the family after Malayala Manorama published a news report about the girls’ plight.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.