From Kochi to Dindigul: Woman makes 380-km ride amid lockdown to meet her husband one last time
Starting from Kochi at 4 pm on Wednesday, they traversed long stretches eventually covering a distance of 380 km in eight hours.
Published: 19th April 2020 01:20 AM | Last Updated: 19th April 2020 01:20 AM | A+A A-
For representational purposes (Photo | Shekhar Yadav/EPS)
KOCHI: Nagalakshmi was brimming with fear and sorrow while riding pillion on her brother-in-law Dinachandran’s bike, after setting off to their native Dindigul to see her husband for one last time.
Starting from Kochi at 4 pm on Wednesday, they traversed long stretches eventually covering a distance of 380 km in eight hours.
Her husband Murugan had fallen from a tree while working in the farmland at their ancestral village at Kodanki Naikan Patti in Dindigul district in Tamil Nadu.
He was battling for life at the Government General Hospital in Madurai and there was no public transport owing to the lockdown restrictions.
Fighting her feelings, Nagalakshmi approached Ernakulam District Collector S Suhas, with the help of a local politician, who granted her permission to travel to her native. As her relatives in Dindigul informed that the condition of Murugan was deteriorating she had no other choice but to ride pillion on her brother-inlaw’s bike.
Dinachandran, who is Murugan’s younger brother, said: “My brother is a construction worker here in Ernakulam and the family had settled in Thevara years ago. He had gone to our native village just before the lockdown and was unable to come back. As we got information about his condition I decided to take my sister-in-law to Dindigul by bike. It was a long journey and the roads were deserted. We stopped at some places and reached the village by midnight.
"My brother passed away before our arrival but we could perform his last rites.” BJP’s local leader C G Rajagopal, who helped Nagalakshmi, said: “The family approached me on Wednesday morning seeking help to get a travel pass to Dindigul. The collector first rejected our application but once we convinced him about Murugan’s health he permission.”
Murugan’s daughter Devi and son-in-law, also settled in Kochi and running a petty shop here, could not attend the funeral as only two persons were okayed by the collector to travel.
