ADOOR: A church in Adoor brought the much-needed relief for the family of a cancer-stricken Hindu rubber tapping worker by funding the marriage of his elder daughter on Monday.
While the marriage of Kala, elder daughter of Karthikeyan and Kunjipennu, residents of Theppupara in Ezhamkulam, and Renjith, son of Yasodharan of Nooranad, was conducted at the Sree Parthasarathy temple in Adoor as per the traditional rituals, St Mary’s Orthodox Church at Karuvatta here organised the reception on its premises.
Karthikeyan, who was diagnosed with mouth cancer a year ago and undergoing treatment at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, had been struggling to source money for the marriage his 27-year-old daughter. Coming to know of it, the church, which had launched a Marriage Assistance Fund as part of its centenary celebrations in 2018, decided to fund the marriage.
The church committee extended Rs 2.5 lakh in aid – Rs 1 lakh in fixed deposit for the couple, Rs 1 lakh for ornaments and dresses for the bride and Rs 50,000 for the reception, said church vicar S V Mathew Thuvayoor. This was the third marriage of girls of poor families funded by the church as part of the scheme.
Karthikeyan expressed his family’s gratitude to the church. “But for the church, I don’t know how I would have married off my daughter,” he said as tears welled up in his eyes.