KOCHI: It was a major shock for childhood friends of 22-year-old engineer from Kochi, Unnikrishnan Nair, who was found charred to death on the IIT Madras campus on Thursday as they had a conference video chat on Tuesday. Residents of Noel Arcadia apartment complex at Padamugal cannot believe that a jovial and active youth like him would take the extreme step.
Unnikrishnan’s friends gathered at the complex on Friday morning after learning about the incident.
“He never looked tense or told us about any pressure that he couldn’t cope with. We had a video chat on Tuesday evening and he was very happy. Since he was outside his house, the chat lasted only for a few minutes and told us that we’d speak later. We had also chatted with him on WhatsApp. It is a very sad moment for us friends who had played together from school days,” said Nikhil who lives in the neighbourhood.
According to Nikhil, Unni, as he is called by friends, loved playing football. In recent months, he had become fitness conscious and went for jogging everyday. “He told us that he continued to jog daily in Chennai,” Nikhil said. Another friend Joshua said it was his dream to join IIT.
“He completed schooling in 2015. He did B.Tech at Cusat and then joined IIT as a project coordinator (research scholar). He was very happy. It is very hard to believe that he took his life. He went to Chennai in April. He told us that he would be coming home for Onam celebrations in August. He never spoke to us about studies,” Joshua said.
Unni’s father Raghunath R works at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) unit in Aluva, while his mother Sheeba works at a private firm in Kakkanad. His brother Madhav is a Class 11 student. The family, hailing from Ettumanoor in Kottayam, has been living in the apartment for the past eight years.
Rajesh P R, caretaker of Noel Arcadia, said residents of the apartments are also shocked. “He was a very jovial child. He interacted with neighbours. He played in front of the apartment daily. He was not a reserved person. The family members left for Chennai on Friday morning. We are also waiting for further news about the incident,” Rajesh said.