PALAKKAD: The BJP observed a hartal in the Pudussery panchayat area from 1 pm to 6 pm on Monday after the death of Mahila Morcha activist Vimala, who succumbed to injuries she had sustained in an attack on December 28, allegedly by CPM activists.
During the hartal, vehicles were not blocked and schools and colleges were allowed to function. Shops and commercial establishments remained closed.
Vimala, 41, was the wife of former BJP panchayat member, Kannan, who had also sustained burn injuries in the attack.
Four suspected CPM activists had set fire to a motor bike in the frontyard of Vimala’s house on the midnight of December 28. On seeing the bike burning, Kannan, Vimala and two other relatives came out of the house and began to pour water on it.
In the meantime, the fire spread to a gas cylinder kept in the verandah of the house. The cylinder exploded, leaving the four persons seriously injured. Two of them have succumbed to injuries. Kannan’s brother, Radhakrishnan, also died last week of the burn injuries. The fourth person injured is Adarsh, 20, son of another brother of Kannan, Selvaraj.
Vimala was under treatment at a private hospital in Coimbatore for serious burn injuries. However, she succumbed to injuries on Monday morning.
The two other injured, Kannan and Adarsh, are still in hospital. Kannan, who was admitted to a hospital in Thrissur, was shifted to a private hospital in Coimbatore on Monday. Vimala too was shifted to Coimbatore from a Thrissur hospital only on Sunday.
Vimala’s body was released from the district hospital, Palakkad, after post mortem by 2.30 pm on Monday.
Subsequently, the body was taken to Chadayankallaya in Pudussery where it was kept for the public to pay homage. Apart from the district-level leaders, BJP national executive committee member P K Krishnadas and RSS State joint secretary N Easwaran were also present. The body was later taken in a ‘Vilapa yathra’ and cremated in Pudussery.