Just two months ago, 24-year-old Shruthi lost nine family members in the devastating Wayanad landslides. Now on Wednesday, September 11, she faced another tragedy - her childhood friend and fiance Jenson (27), died in a road accident.
Shruthi, an accountant at a private hospital in Kozhikode, lost her entire family on the night of July 30. Among those who died in the Meppadi landslides were her parents Sabitha and Shivanna and younger sister Shreya.
Shruthi's mother, Sabitha, was among the many victims whose bodies were difficult to identify after the landslide. On September 9, the Kerala government informed Shruthi that her mother’s body had been identified using DNA tests. The next day, on September 10, Shruti and Jenson visited Puthumala, to pay their respects on her mother’s grave. While many of the unidentifiable bodies and body parts recovered from the landslide were buried in Puthumala, 7.5 km from the disaster site, district authorities had assigned special identification numbers to each grave. DNA tests were done at the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory in Kannur district.
Shruti’s mother’s body had finally been identified and she was able to pay respects to her mother. But tragedy struck once again on their way back to Kozhikode. The bus they were traveling in met with an accident, and Jenson sustained severe injuries. Though he was put on ventilator support, he succumbed to injuries on the night of September 11.
The couple, belonging to different faiths, were childhood friends. In June, they got engaged, with their marriage planned for December. In an earlier interview, Jenson said that he would be with Shruthi till his last breath. “Now, we have to start from square one, but we will live happily. I will not leave her alone; I will always hold her close to my heart. Our dream is a house and a job for Shruthi. After my death, she should not be left alone,” he said.
Since the landslide, Jenson had remained by Shruthi’s side. In the same interview, she said that her parents would have found peace knowing that she was not left alone after their passing.