Kalpetta: In a disaster-ravaged land, match-making would be the last thing any panchayat could think of, but not everyone shall agree. The authorities of Meppadi and Muttil panchayat in Wayanad who already had their hands full with relief operations were swamped with calls seeking probable matches for youths from young girls who have lost their parents in the landslide.

All thanks to a voice clip widely circulated with a ' heart-felt' appeal- ''There are as many as 48 girls orphaned in the landslide and marrying the hapless souls would be a sacred deed itself ''. It also carried a direction to noble youths to register their names at the panchayat office so that they could find their prospective brides from relief camps and give them a life.

The tone and content may have been so moving. Phone calls poured in and some of them even turned up in tow with their parents so that it would be convenient to see the bride and fix the marriage. 

Muttil panchayath vice president Kabeer Pikkadan said that many youths came to the panchayat office with families to register their names as well as to confirm the girl after the pennukanal.   

"We had a tough time convincing the groups that it was a fake voice clip," he said, adding that the panchayat has sought urgent help from the cyber police to remove that clip from the social networking platforms.

Tired of queries, the panchayat authorities were even forced to put up a poster on the notice board of the office saying that clip was fake. A complaint was also filed with the police.
The authorities said that as the voice clip was of a woman and the tone was innocent, many believed that it was true. The office got phone calls from Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod districts.