PARAVUR (KOLLAM):An 80-year-old woman and her family who objected to the fireworks display at the Paravur Puttingal temple were allegedly threatened and verbally abused by a group on Saturday evening, just hours before a massive explosion claimed more than 100 lives early Sunday morning.
It was based on a complaint filed by Pankajakshi Anandan, who lives at ‘Pankajam’ - the house which sits roughly 25 metres away from where the blast occurred - that the district administration refused to give nod for the pyrotechnic display.
“I had lodged the complaint with the District Collector on April 2. Every year, we have electrical problems and pipeline bursts during the fireworks,” Pankajakshi said.
“Many residents here do have objections, but they rarely complain fearing ‘Devikopam’ (wrath of the Goddess),” said Anitha, Pankajakshi’s daughter, who is settled in England with her husband Prakash.
Pankajakshi also lives in England now, but comes down every year accompanied by her family for the festival. Pankajakshi and Prakash are heart patients, the latter having undergone angioplasty twice.
In her complaint, Pankajakshi said that she was a heart patient and the situation was such that every year she had to stay away because of the deafening explosions. The fireworks show also left electronic appliances in her home damaged, she said.
“Amma personally wrote the complaint and handed it over to the District Collector on April 2. She passed it on to the Deputy Collector and the village officer visited us on April 3,” Anitha said.
On Saturday evening, a group of people reportedly demanded them to withdraw the complaint.
“They showered us with abuses and even death threats. We complained to the policemen who were present at the temple grounds, but they asked us to file a formal complaint with the police station the next day,” Pankajakshi said. Around 11 am on Sunday, a medical team visited the elderly woman and checked her health.