Kollam/Neyyattinkara: A young couple, both Kerala government employees, were killed after their car rammed a bus at Kadampattukonam in Kollam on Monday.
Neyyattinkara native J Rahul, 28, and his wife Soumya, 24, were the deceased. While Rahul was a division officer at Kanjirakulam, Soumya was a block panchayat officer based at Anchal.
The couple had left behind their two-year-old daughter Ishani at home as they undertook the fateful trip. They were on their way to attend a relative's wedding in Mayyanad in Kollam district from Neyyattinkara, further south, when the accident happened along the National Highway around 11 am.
A Thiruvananthapuram-bound Volvo bus of the KSRTC rammed their car. The couple died on the spot.
The front portion of the car was completely destroyed in the accident .
Soumya was the daughter of Saraswathi Amma and late Sundaran Pillai of Ayoor. Soumya, who was working at Parassala, got transferred to Anchal in Kollam only three months ago.
Rahul was the son of Janardhanan Nair of Neyyattinkara.
Heart-rending scenes
Relatives and friends were shocked to know of the tragic deaths. People were at a loss on how to console the family. "Who will feed this baby now?" lamented Rahul's mother, holding on to little Ishani. The couple had left the baby in her care.
The two-year-old looked on perplexed as crowds of teary-eyed people surrounded her.
After post-mortem was held at the Medical College Hospital at Paripally, Kollam, the mortal remains of the duo were handed over to relatives. The bodies were first taken to Rahul's house and then Soumya's house. Both the funerals would be held at Soumya's house at Ayoor on Tuesday.
MLAs C K Hareendran, K Ansalan and M Vincent, municipal chairperson W R Heeba, Parassala block panchayat president V R Salooja and DCC president Neyyattinkara Sanal were among those who paid homage to the couple.
