KOCHI: The mortal remains of veteran journalist and former Express scribe Leela Menon were cremated at the Ravipuram Crematorium here on Monday. The funeral rites were performed at 1.30 pm by M Jayakumar, nephew of her husband, the late, Bhaskara Menon.
Earlier, several thousand people comprising family members, colleagues from the journalistic fraternity, friends and admirers paid their final farewell to the pioneering journalist as her body was kept at the Ernakulam Town Hall on Monday. On behalf of The New Indian Express, which Leela Menon served for over two decades, Resident Editor (Kerala) Vinod Mathew offered floral tributes.
Others who paid homage to the veteran scribe at the Town Hall, included journalists T J S George, M K Das, Sebastian Paul and Appukuttan Vallikunnu; litterateur N S Madhavan; Mayor Soumini Jain; CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan; BJP state general secretary A N Radhakrishnan; CPM district secretary P Rajeev; veteran CPM leader M M Lawrence; Congress leaders Dominic Presentation and Benny Behanan; VHP state president S J R Kumar;Hindu Aikya Vedi state general secretary R V Babu; KMRL MD A P M Mohammed Hanish and TELK chairman N C Mohan.
Governor mourns death
Governor P Sathasivam has mourned Leela Menon’s death. “In the sad demise of Smt Leela Menon, Indian journalism has lost a fearless crusader whose writings helped to bring several social issues to the limelight. With a rare boldness that reflected in her writings and in her fight against cancer, she inspired many people, especially women to fight against odds and to overcome hurdles in life,” he said in a statement.