THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ananthu Ajikumar would have become a dentist in three months. But a freak accident, resulting from a stray rock sliding down a truck passing by his two-wheeler put paid to his dreams and his family’s hopes on Tuesday.
A resident of Mukkola in Thiruvananthapuram district, the 24-year-old left for the Noorul Islam College of Dental Sciences at 7.45am. But his life took a tragic turn in less than 10 minutes.
His sister, Aruna, pursuing BSc Forensic Science in Palakkad, returned home in the evening but it was not the family get-together they had planned for 10 days later.
At the time of the accident, only his mother, P S Bindu, an employee with the Kerala State Lottery Agents and Sellers Welfare Fund Board, was at home. His father, Ajikumar, works at a shop in Muscat.
“Ajikumar was planning to come home on April 1 to decide on his wife’s surgery,” said K Jayan, Ananthu’s uncle, even as he was busy erecting a shamiana to accommodate mourners in front of the family’s two-storeyed house, named Ananthu Bhavan.
Having gone to the Gulf eight years ago to secure his children’s future, Ajikumar will reach home early Wednesday morning to attend his son’s funeral.
Ananthu was hit in the chest by the rock that fell from a lorry transporting stones to the Vizhinjam International Port. The accident happened at Manaliyil as the rock slipped from the lorry when the driver tried to avoid a gutter.
The impact caused him to lose control of his scooter, leading to a collision with a fence. Ananthu suffered severe injuries to his head and arms and was transported to a hospital where he was placed on a ventilator. The efforts proved futile.
Ananthu’s body has been kept in the morgue of NIMS, Neyyattinkara. The mortal remains will be kept at his college for fellow students and staff to pay homage before being brought home. Due to space constraints, the relatives have opted to hold the funeral at a cemetery near Ajikumar’s ancestral house in Muttathara. The Vizhinjam police have booked the tipper driver, Jithin of Ottasekharamangalam, for unintentional murder and rash driving.
Broken road, speeding tippers worrying: Residents
Local residents have long voiced concerns about the dilapidated road leading to the Vizhinjam port from the bypass, citing frequent accidents involving tipper lorries. “The Mukkola junction is notorious for accidents,” said Mulloor councillor C Omana. “Despite the increasing frequency of tipper trucks heading to the port, the PWD road has been neglected for years. Overloaded tippers, often covered with inadequate netting, pose a constant danger.” Residents also accused the port authorities of disregarding previous agreements by allowing freight movement throughout the day, with lorries exceeding speed limits.