Kalathingal Noufal, a native of Chooralmala, who lost 11 members of his family during the Wayanad landslides, received a new home on Monday. On the fateful night of July 10, Noufal, who was in Muscat at the time, lost his wife Sajna and three children, his father Kunjumoideen, mother Ayesha, brother Monsoon, sister-in-law Muhsina, and their three children. It was heartrending for many to watch Noufal search for his family across the disaster site, the relief camp, and finally, the mortuary.

“When I received the news of the landslide, there was total darkness in my mind. I did not know what to do, where to go, or whom to depend on,” Noufal said. “I am very thankful to the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) for the house and to all the people who stood by me in the darkest days of my life, providing me with all that I need,” he added.

The KMCC Muscat unit raised funds for the new home, which was constructed on eight cents of land and spans 1,200 sq ft. “The KMCC mobilised ₹32 lakh for the house with the permission of the IUML state committee. Kadiri Nazar, a KMCC member, took up the initiative,” said Youth League leader Shihab Meppadi. The key to the house was handed over to Noufal at a function held on the Meppadi–Muttil road, just two kilometres from town.

Previously, the Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (KNM) supported Noufal by providing ₹6 lakh to set up a restaurant-cum-bakery in Chooralmala. Several others also contributed to help start the shop, named ‘July 30’ in memory of the day he lost everyone and everything.