PATHANAMTHITTA: The air was thick with grief as the last rites of Ranjitha Gopakumaran Nair, one of the victims of the June 12 Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, were performed in her hometown, Pullad, Pathanamthitta, on Tuesday.
Ranjitha, 39, a nurse, died while preparing to return to work in the UK after a brief leave. Her body, identified through DNA testing, arrived at Thiruvananthapuram airport at 7.15 am and was received by Ministers V Sivankutty and G R Anil, who paid homage on behalf of the state government. The body was accompanied by Ranjitha’s brother, Ratheesh G Nair, and uncle, Unnikrishnan, as it was taken to her native place.
Upon arrival at Pullad, a public viewing was held at Sri Vivekananda HS at 10 am. Political and administrative dignitaries joined the grieving public, offering their condolences.
Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan, CPM general secretary M A Baby, MLA Mathew T Thomas and former Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan were among those present. MP Anto Antony and MLA Pramod Narayan, also paid their respects alongside District Collector S Prem Krishnan and District Police Chief V Ajith.
Ranjitha’s body was later taken to her under-construction home adjacent to her ancestral house in Pullad. The house was a dream she had long cherished, symbolising her aspirations to settle back with her family.
The hearse paused at the site, as her loved ones reflected on the life she had planned but could not live.After a brief time, on the house premises, her son Induchudan, along with her nephews Kashinath and Sriram, lit the funeral pyre.
Due to severe burns, DNA testing was the only reliable method to identify her remains. While her brother, Ratheesh G Nair provided a sample, it did not match.
This led to samples being collected from her mother and two children three days ago at their home in Pullad, making Ranjitha’s final journey possible.