Kochi: The daughter of N Ramachandran, the Kochi native killed in the Pahalgam terror attack, on Thursday said that his father was gunned down right in front of her eyes by a terrorist when they said they did not know ‘Kalima’. 'Kalimas' are short, specific phrases used to express core Islamic beliefs.

Arathi R Menon, who survived the terror attack along with her mother and eight-year-old twin sons, recounted the horror of a lifetime as she spoke to media, a day after her father’s mortal remains were brought back to their hometown. Ramachandran is among the 26 people gunned down by the terrorists at a meadow at Baisaran near Pahalgam on Tuesday.

“We were at the grassland amid a vast forest. A terrorist came out and fired a round leaving us in a frozen state. We were all ordered to lie down and we did so. The tourists were in different groups and we saw the terrorist going to each one and asking something and shooting at some. Then he came to us and asked if we could recite Kalima. When we said we don’t know, he immediately shot at my father. Then he pointed the gun on my head. By then my kids were crying and screaming and he left,” Arathi remembered, in a disturbing sense of forced confidence.

Arathi continued: “I knew that my father was dead and there was no point in trying to cover his wound to stop the bleeding. I ran away from there with my children.”

Arathi said she had no clue as to how to reach the main road, and she chose to follow the footprints of the ponies used to carry the tourists up and down the hills. “The ponies were also running, and earlier a guide had told me they know the paths very well. I told my kids, let’s follow the ponies’ footprints. I cannot remember how long we ran. After a point, my phone got a signal and I could call our driver. When I saw military personnel running up, I felt a bit relieved as I knew we were close to the road,” she said. Arathi said she saw only two terrorists, and she did not know how many more were there.

Arathi said the government officials and the local people of Kashmir were very helpful to them. “A hotel allowed us to stay there even though we had not checked in there,” she said.

Arathi’s mother, Sheela, had chosen not to trek the hills as she had undergone two angioplasties. Arathi said she managed not to let her mother know about Ramachandran’s death until they were back in Kochi.

A Gulf returnee, Ramachandran lived at Edappally with his wife and daughter. The body was brought to Kochi on a flight by 8 pm on Wednesday and shifted to the mortuary of a private hospital. The mortal remains will be kept for public homage at Changampuzha Park on Friday from 7.30 am to 9.30 am. Final rituals will be held at his home after that. The cremation will take place in Edappally at 11.00 am.