Harassment by money lender: Boy flees home to meet CM Pinarayi Vijayan
KOZHIKODE: A 16-year-old boy fled from his home in Kozhikode to meet Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his official residence in Thiruvanathapuram. Devanandan, son of Rajeev Tharakkandi, a resident of Koyura ward in Velom panchayat in Kozhikode took the ‘adventurous’ journey to submit a complaint regarding the financial crisis his family is in.
Devanandan’s parents had taken money on interest from a private money-lending institution and were being harassed as the loan defaulted. Seeing his family in crisis, the Plus One student left for Thiruvananthapuram without telling his parents. Devanandan boarded the Eranad Express from Vadakara on Saturday morning and reached Thiruvananthapuram at 9pm.
From Thampanoor, he reached the Devaswom Board Junction where the Cliff House is located by auto and asked the policemen who were in charge of security to allow him inside. The policemen, however, took the boy to the Museum police station. Sub-inspector Jiju and his team bought food for him at night and informed the boy’s father that the boy is safe in Thiruvananthapuram.
Meanwhile, Devanandan’s parents were searching frantically for their son in Velom. “He left home on Saturday saying that he was going to school. However, he didn’t return after school. Though we found that he boarded a bus to Vadakara, we didn’t get any clue on where he went from there. That’s when we got a call from the Thiruvananthapuram police,” said Rajeev.
“It’s true that our family has some financial issues. We got a notification from the organisation after the loan defaulted. The boy got scared learning about the loan notification,” said Rajeev. On Sunday morning, Rajeev reached the Museum station. Meanwhile, the police had passed the information on Devanandan’s arrival to the chief minister’s office. The chief minister, who learned about the incident, asked to bring both Devanandan and his father to his chamber.
He listened Devanandan patiently and admonished the boy for travelling without informing his family. After sending them away, the CM directed the officials to look into his complaint. “Now, I understand that I shouldn’t have gone to Thiruvananthapuram alone without informing my family. But I’m relieved that the CM considered my complaint,” said Devanandan, a Plus-One Humanities student at the Government Higher Secondary School, Avala.