Thiruvananthapuram: Heart-rending visuals of a teenager pleading with the police to allow the burial of his father have shook the conscience of the people of the state. Along with it came a few other equally distressing shots of his younger brother digging the grave even as their mother was nearing her death.
These morbid incidents took place in Neyyatinkara, south of the Kerala capital, on Monday noon ahead of the funeral of Rajan who died a few days after a self-immolation bid during a botched eviction attempt that followed a court order on land encroachment.
"Sir, my mother is also about to die. You all have killed them. Now you don't want us to even bury them? The eldest son Rahul is seen asking a police officer with a raised finger.
"We are begging before you with folded hands. Please don't harass us,"an elderly woman is also heard saying in the video posted by Kodikunnil Suresh, MP, on social media.
Other visuals that made it online shows Rahul's brother Ranjith frenetically digging the grave. The children had to bury their father on their own as few were willing to help in burying him in a property over which a dispute had been raging.
Rajan succumbed to his burn injuries on Monday, and his wife Ambili also died of burns a few hours later, rendering the children orphans. She too is set to be buried on thew same disputed property on Tuesday.
Some media houses had telecast another disturbing video in which the children of the couple is seen saying that there was no point in living after her mother's death.
Complainant refuses to yield
Nonetheless, Vasantha, the neighbour of the couple who died of burns in Neyyatinkara and whose complaint led to the eviction proceedings, said she would go ahead with her legal fight and would never hand over the plot to the children of the deceased couple.
"I have done nothing wrong. I have not hurt anyone and have not snatched anything from anyone. Now people are saying this (land from which the deceased were sought to be evicted) is not my land. I want to prove it is," Vasantha told reporters on Tuesday.
She also made it clear that she would willingly had over the oland to any poor family but not to the family of the deceased. "I will not give this land to people who had resorted to goondaism. If you want me to give it to them, you will have to kill me," Vasantha said.
Later, after Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran visited the area, Vasantha was removed from her house. Police sources said it was preventive custody. "People are angry and she won't be safe in the house which is right next to the house of the deceased," a police source said. There were also local demands to arrest Vasantha.
Tragedy unfolds
Rajan attempted to end his life before the government authorities who came to evict his family from the property following a court order. Recorded visuals at the spot shows Rajan pouring petrol on his clothes even as he held a lighter and threatened to set himself ablaze. His wife is also seen beside him.
When he raised the hand apparently threatening to light it, his shirt caught fire. In no time he went up in flames. Rajan sustained serious injuries in the abdominal region.
He died on Monday morning and his wife who was with him on the day of the incident also succumbed to her injuries in the evening.
The suicide attempt took place on December 22. While in hospital Rajan had given a statement saying that he didn't set himself ablaze as he didn't wanted to die.
The tragedy reportedly happened when a policeman standing close by tried to snatch the lighter from his hand. A few cops had accompanied the officials who had arrived to execute the court order.
Meanwhile, the Kerala government has offered to sponsor the orphaned children.
