EDAVANAKKAD: The coastal fishing hamlet of Aniyil at Edavanakkad on Thursday woke up to the tragic news of the death of dear ones. Vineetha and her children were a familiar face to the nearly 170 families in the close-knit hamlet where Vineetha was born and bought up.The villagers have been like a family, sharing joy and sorrow. Seeing the little ones’ bodies, many of them broke down and wished they hadn’t known them. Even Vineetha’s marriage to Sanal Kumar, of the same hamlet, five years ago was a celebrated event as it followed a long courtship.
“We don’t know why she decided to resort to the extreme step. We never noticed any major issue between Vineetha and Sunil Kumar. There might have been some serious reason that prompted her to do it,” said Sudheer A R, a neighbour. A police officer said 10 members of the family lived in the small house. According to preliminary statements collected from neighbours, there were some domestic issues within the family and Vineetha wasn’t very happy, the officer said.
“We are all fishermen and have been under some financial strain for the past few months. This is for the first time that a tragic incident of this sort is happening in our hamlet,” said another local resident, Sheejan M D.
He said the people of the hamlet have been living like one family and have faced many natural disasters, including the 2004, tsunami united. “Most of our homes were destroyed in the tsunami and we lost everything. But we stood together supporting each other during the hour of crisis. We couldn’t believe it when we heard about the tragic incident,” he added.
Residents of the hamlet break down as the body of Vineetha is being taken to an ambulance at Aniyil on Thursday | Albin Mathew