Manjeri (Malappuram): In a poignant incident, relatives arrived to claim the mortal remains of Joy (72) hours before the authorities decided to bury it as an unidentified body. The incident took place at Government Medical College Hospital at Manjeri last week. Joy’s body had remained at the mortuary of the medical college for 10 days before his relatives identified it. While his relatives ended their long wait for Joy, who had gone missing 35 years ago, they finally received only his lifeless body.

Kadakkattil Joy, a resident of Kayyunni in Pandalur taluk of Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu, died at Manjeri Medical College on July 13. He was brought there from District Hospital, Nilambur on July 12. That day, he was admitted to the Nilambur hospital by the police and panchayat authorities who had found him very sick in Wandoor market.

When no relatives claimed his body for 10 days, the Medical College authorities approached the police to bury it as that of an unidentified man. Officials led by the health inspector at Wandoor arrived at the hospital on July 22 along with the police to take Joy’s body.

But, the authorities later decided to bury the body at West Hill cemetery in Kozhikode rather than cremating it at the gas crematorium in Manjeri. Instructions were also issued to dig a grave in West Hill. Meanwhile, the burial was postponed to the next day after the hospital authorities demanded a formal letter from the police to hand over the body. On July 23, panchayat officials reached the hospital with the letter to take the body. By that time, Wandoor police inspector A R Saji received information that the body belonged to a missing man hailing from Cherambady. The police soon shared a photo and details of the body in the WhatsApp groups of that area.

Joy’s brother Varghese (Benny) saw the photo in a group and identified his sibling, who was missing for 35 years. Subsequently, Benny arrived at Manjeri Medical College along with Joy’s other siblings Mani and Molly, and Mani’s son Kannan.

“Joy went missing 35 years ago. Despite a long search, we could never trace him. We had also searched for him when our parents died. Joy’s son also passed away recently,” said Benny.

“We hoped that Joy would return someday. However, we were never prepared for his death,” he added.

Social activist Hameed Kodavandy provided assistance in shifting Joy’s body, which was later buried at the cemetery of Fatima Matha Church in Kayyunni.