TIRUNELVELI: In yet another tragic death, a 23-year-old jawan from Tirunelveli district was killed in a recent avalanche at Siachen. His body was fished out from a 12-ft-deep ice on Sunday.
The deceased jawan was identified as Vijayakumar (23) from Vallarampuram near Sankarankovil. He and another jawan were buried alive in the avalanche on March 17.
However, his body was recovered only on Sunday and his family was informed immediately.
The tragic news came as a rude shock not only to the family but also to the entire village. On hearing their brother’s death, his younger sisters Rajeshwari (21) and Sumathi (19) swooned on the spot.
The entire village plunged into sorrow and all the residents locked their house and went to Vijayakumar’s house to share their grief with the affected family. They consoled his parents Karuthapandi and Muthukutti.
Vijayakumar had joined the army in 2014 and was part of Chennai-21 regiment. He was sent to Siachen six months ago.
Vallarampuram is known as army village as it carries the pride of having over 50 youth placed in the Army. At least one youth from a family in the village is in the Armed Forces.
This is one of the reasons why Vijayakumar’s death affected everyone of them in the village. Since Friday, they have been praying for him.
Mahesh, one of the jawans from the village who had come on leave, said every youth there aspires to join the army. But, the death of Vijayakumar does not deter them from joining Army.