KALPETTA : Two years after a landslide wiped out her family and home, and a road accident took away the man who had stood by her through the darkest phase of her life, S Shruthi finally has a reason to smile again. The 26-year-old survivor of the Chooralmala landslide began a new chapter on Saturday, marrying Sandeep, at the Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple.
For Shruthi, the wedding was more than the beginning of married life. It was a moment of happiness after enduring a series of unimaginable losses that could have shattered anyone.
On July 30, 2024, when the landslide devastated Chooralmala, Shruthi was away from home, working at a private hospital in Kozhikode. However, the disaster took away nine members of her family, including her parents, Sivanna and Sabitha, and younger sister Sreya. Her newly built house was also reduced to rubble, along with the gold and money her parents had saved for her wedding.
Her childhood friend and fiancé Jenson became her only major source of support during the difficult days that followed. The couple, who had been in a relationship for nearly a decade, had got engaged just a month before the disaster and planned to marry in December 2024. But another tragedy struck when Jenson died in a road accident in September that year. Shruthi, who was travelling with him, also suffered serious leg injuries.
The state government subsequently appointed her as a clerk in the Revenue Department at the Wayanad Collectorate. She joined duty in December 2024, determined to rebuild her life. On Saturday, she married Sandeep, who also works at the Collectorate.