After family, Wayanad landslide survivor Sruthi loses fiance Jenson to tragic accident
Wayanad (Kerala), Sep 12: People of Kerala bid an emotional farewell on Thursday to a 27-year-old man, who had selflessly stood by his fiancee after she lost her entire family in devastating landslides, as his body was brought to his village, a day after he succumbed to injuries sustained in an accident two days earlier.
Before being taken to his village near Ambalavayal and later to the cemetery of Nithya Sahaya Matha Church, Jenson's body was brought to the ICU of a hospital where his fiancee, Shruti, is being treated for injuries sustained in the same accident.
Hundreds of people gathered to pay their last respects and take one final look at Jenson as his body was brought to his village, hospital, and church. His burial was completed at around 4.35 pm.
Jenson's death in the accident sent shockwaves through Kerala society, with many, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan, and film stars Mammootty and Fahadh Faasil, recalling his exceptional kindness and compassion towards Shruti, with whom he had been in a relationship for the past 10 years.
His shocking death occurred just as 24-year-old Shruti was barely coming to terms with the loss of her entire family in the recent catastrophic landslides in Wayanad district on July 30.
Netizens recalled Jenson's remarks, made with Shruti by his side weeks after the July 30 landslides in Wayanad, where he said, "The only concern that lingers is that if something happens to me, either today or tomorrow, won't she feel like a complete orphan?"
In a Facebook post, CM Vijayan said the news of Jenson's death - the fiance of Chooralmala native Shruti, who lost her parents, sister, and other loved ones in the recent landslide disaster in Wayanad - is "extremely painful."
"Having lost her family and home in the landslide on July 30, Shruti is now facing another tragedy. No compensation can make up for the losses suffered by those affected by disasters. All we can offer now is our solidarity with Shruti. We share the grief of Shruti and Jenson's families. May Shruti find the strength to overcome these challenges and hardships," Vijayan said.
Satheesan said no words can comfort Shruti.
"May Shruti find the strength to overcome any adversity. Just a call away, the entire nation stands with Shruti, ready to offer any assistance. Farewell, Jenson, with tears and respects," he said in a Facebook post.
Later, in a statement, Satheesan said that after the landslide disaster, he had met Shruti and Jenson when he visited Wayanad.
The Congress leader pledged to provide all necessary support to Shruti, just like she is his own daughter.
"I will bring to the Chief Minister's attention the importance of providing a government job to Shruti," he said.
Actor Mammootty said Jenson's passing causes immense sorrow.
"Shruti's pain... is beyond what can be imagined... May Shruti and Jenson's loved ones receive boundless strength to bear this loss," he wrote on his social media page.
Fahadh Faasil shared a photo of Jenson on his Facebook page and said, "You will be remembered till the end of time my brother".
Tragedy had struck Shruti, an accountant at a hospital in Kozhikode district, on July 30 when her family of nine, including her parents and younger sister were killed in the landslides that struck Chooralmala and Mundakkai villages of Meppadi panchayat.
Her only support during the tragic times was Jenson, with whom she had got engaged on June 2 after a 10-year-long courtship.
On August 29, the couple had visited the Puthumala graveyard where some of her family were buried and reaffirmed their commitment to each other.
Days later, on September 10, Jenson got critically injured when his car collided head-on with a private bus.
Shruti and some other family members of Jenson, who were also travelling in the same car, also got injured in the accident.
When the couple had reaffirmed their commitment to each other, Jenson, who works for a car cleaning company in the district, had said that he promised himself that he would never leave the side of his school-time friend Shruti when she told him about the tragedy that had befallen her family.
The couple, initially set to tie the knot in December with fanfare, were planning to have a simple court-registered marriage in September.
Shruthi lost about Rs 4 lakh in cash and around 15 'sovereigns' of gold along with her newly-built home that was washed away in the landslides that claimed over 200 lives.
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Railway lines as fence could cut cost of barricading to curb man-elephant conflicts: MP Wadiyar
Bengaluru, Sept 17: MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar has suggested that to bring down the exorbitant cost barricading – estimated to cost around Rs 1.3 to Rs 1.5 crore per kilometre – railway lines could be used to construct fences on Tuesday.
Wadiyar took to X to share the letter he had sent to Union Environment Forest & Climate Change Minister Bhupendra Yadav.
Stating that “railway (lines) barricading” is proving to be an effective way to restrict the movement of elephants, he suggested that this should be taken up on a large scale.
“Upon consultation with the relevant authorities, it has come to my understanding that the cost of barricading per kilometre comes to Rs 1.3 crore to Rs 1.5 crore. Given that the border of the forests in my constituency stretches to over 400 km, with around 280 km of forest border requiring immediate barricading, the cost of such an exercise will reach Rs 350 crore to Rs 400 crore,” he wrote in his letter.
He said the environment ministry could make a direct request with the railway ministry for an allocation of railway lines, thus reducing the cost of the project to just that of labour cost.
“The benefits of this initiative are manifold, from reduction of human casualties, protection of property and livelihood, to conservation of elephants and, most importantly, promoting human-elephant coexistence, which is the need of the hour,” he added.
Working towards safer coexistence in Mysore-Kodagu! Submitted proposal to Union Environment Forest & Climate change Minister Shri Bhupendra Yadav Ji for railway barricading to reduce elephant-human conflicts. pic.twitter.com/VjOWIF1TTC
— Yaduveer Wadiyar (@yaduveerwadiyar) September 17, 2024
