London: The local community here turned out in large numbers on Saturday to pay last respects to Keralite nurse Anju and her two young children who were murdered at their home in Kettering, North Northamptonshire, England, last month. Hundreds of people bid farewell to the departed with tears welling up in their eyes.
The mortal remains were kept at the Salvation Army Church Community Hall on Rockingham Road at Kettering and the friends and colleagues had time from 10 am to 12 noon to pay homage.
From morning itself, Keralites from different parts of Britain arrived at Kettering. The entire Malayali community in Kettering comprising Anju’s friends and colleagues too streamed in to see her for the last time.
At 10 am itself, the vehicle carrying the body of Anju reached the courtyard of the church. Her colleagues at the hospital, her friends in Kettering, the English neighbours, and Keralites including social workers from different parts of Britain, received the hearse with tears rolling down their cheeks.
Though initially it was decided to keep the bodies of the children of Anju too beside her for viewing, this was reversed at the last minute by the funeral directors. Nobody was in a state of mind to see the still bodies of the little ones.
The colleagues who had brought rose flowers to pay homage to their beloved wept profusely. Those moments reminded everybody that deciding not to bring the little ones’ bodies to the public stage was in the right direction.
For the first time, verses from the 'Bhagavad Gita', the Gurudeva mantras, and Hindu religious prayers resonated at the Christian church built in 1880.
The Hindu, Muslim, and Christian chaplains of the hospital, social worker Sugathan Thekkepura, Kettering Malayali Cultural Welfare Association Secretary Arun Sebastian, and Fr Ebin among others spoke on the occasion and offered condolences.
Bodies to be sent to Kerala soon
The UK Police handed over the bodies to the funeral directors the other day, after completing the legal procedures of the case that shocked Britain. The Malayali community there is hoping that the bodies could be flown back to Kerala this weekend based on the availability of flights. Before that, the required procedures at the High Commission should be completed. A letter from the GP Surgery should be collected and submitted to the Embassy. (GP denotes General Practitioner.)
The Lawrence Funeral Service at Birkenhead in Liverpool is making the arrangements to take the body to Anju’s native place.
Anju’s family has entrusted her colleague male nurse Manoj Mathew to coordinate the activities in Britain and to complete the formalities with the police, court, and Embassy. Manoj hopes to take the body to the native place by the end of the week. Manoj and his wife Smitha will accompany the body to the native place.
The gruesome triple murder
Anju's husband Saju Chelavalel, a native of Kannur in Kerala, had allegedly killed her along with the two daughters — Jeeva (six), and Jhanvi (four). The gruesome murder happened on December 15 at their rented house in Kettering. According to the autopsy report, the trio were choked to death.