Kollam: The death of six-year-old Devananda who was found dead in the river near her home in Kollam on Friday morning had touched a chord with people across Kerala. She was laid to rest hours after autopsy which ruled out foul play as many suspected as she had gone missing a day before.
Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at her house as her parents Pradeep and Dhanya bid adieu to her as masses thronged the funeral on Friday.
In a cruel twist of fate, Pradeep saw his three-month-old son for the first time on the very day Devananda was buried. Pradeep gently patted on his daughter’s forehead even as his wife Dhanya was lying heart-broken in another room.
The couple were blessed with their first child, Devananda, after five years of marriage. Their son was born only three months earlier.
Pradeep, who works in Oman, was last home 10 months ago for vacation. He was waiting to see his son for the first time and had stocked up toys for his children. Finally, when he did arrive home, the lifeless body of his daughter greeted him.
Pradeep, who reached Kerala on Friday morning, said that he called home every day to talk to his daughter.
"She listens to everything I say. She does not even step out of the house to play. She used to call other children home for playing.
“I even called on Thursday, the day she went missing. She was still asleep then. She was tired after taking part in a dance programme for the school annual day celebrations. I called again at 10:30am, but was told that she had gone to the temple. Finally, my brother-in-law, who works in Qatar, informed me that she was missing,” Pradeep said. Even then he was hopeful that the child would be traced.
The body was buried on the premises of the house of Devananda's father at Kudavattoor. The final rites were held after the body was kept at Saraswathi Vidyalayam, Vakkanad, and at the house of Devananda's mother Dhanya at Elavoor.
Devananda, also known as Ponnu, was a Grade-1 student at Saraswathi Vidya Nikethan School at Vakkanadu, Kollam.
Police, Fire and Rescue officials had been searching for the girl after she went missing on Thursday morning.
Diving experts had retrieved her body from the Ithikkara riverbank, 500 to 600 m away from the house. The river flows 50 m from her home in Elavoor.
