Locals accuse Thenmala officials of not helping to carry dead body to burial ground

The residents of the Thenmala Kallada Irrigation Project (KIP) colony have alleged that the officials engaged at Thenmala - an ecotourism site in Kerala - did not extend any help in carrying a dead body to the burial ground despite repeated requests made by them.

Kollam (Kerala): The officials engaged at Thenmala - an ecotourism site in Kerala - have been accused of not providing the residents of the Thenmala Kallada Irrigation Project (KIP) colony with a vehicle or a stretcher to carry the dead body of a woman to a nearby burial ground.

The locals have filed a complaint in Kulathupuzha police station against the government officials of not extending help in carrying the dead body to the burial ground despite repeated requests made by them.

The deceased - Mallikayamma - was a resident of the same colony, and had died at the Kottayam Government Hospital while undergoing treatment.

After being refused a vehicle and a stretcher, the residents chipped in to make a bier with wooden poles and palm leaves to carry the body to the burial ground which is about two kilometres away.

Jayakumar, Sub-Inspector, Kulathupuzha Police Station also decided to help the residents in building the bier.

Meanwhile, after receiving flak for their negligence, the Thenmala officials have, in their defence, said that they couldn't entertain the request made by the residents because the latter didn't clarify Mallikayamma's cause of death.