The story of a 67-year-old retired policeman and his devoted pet dog, Unnikuttan, from Kerala’s Idukki is a bittersweet tale of heartbreak and grief, but more importantly, of love. Konnakkal KK Soman, a retired Sub Inspector who used to live with his dog at SN Padi near Adimali, was found dead in a bathroom in his home on Sunday, June 26, with Unnikuttan fiercely guarding over him. Soman had died of a heart attack on Saturday evening, since when Unnikuttan had apparently refused to leave his side. It would seem the dog had waited beside his lifeless body for an entire day, until he finally noticed a familiar presence, of Soman’s son-in-law Umesh, in front of the house.

“I had been trying to get through to my father-in-law over the phone since Saturday evening. But as he was not attending the call, I went to his home on Sunday,” says Soman’s son-in-law Umesh. “When Unnikuttan noticed my presence in front of the house, he came running to me. All the doors of the house were open, and the lights and fans were switched on. Sensing that something was wrong, I followed the dog to my father-in-law’s bedroom. Immediately, Unnikuttan ran to the front of the bathroom and started to bark at me continuously, as if he wanted me to check inside. That was when I found his body lying inside,” Umesh says. He had immediately alerted the neighbours and the police of the incident.

The police and the fire force service personnel had soon reached the spot, but Unnikuttan did not appreciate this intrusion into his beloved owner’s space. “When the police arrived, Unnikuttan turned violent. He was not allowing anyone to enter the room. I tried my best to cajole him, he just refused to move from that spot,” says Umesh. Eventually, he had to ask the personnel to go out of the house, slowly calm Unnikuttam down and move him to another room, and then lock him inside it. Only then were the officials able to remove the body from the bathroom, Umesh adds.

“Over the past several years, my father-in-law and Unnikkuttan have come to share a deep bond. Father even fed him with his own hands,” Umesh says.

According to Adimali Circle Inspector K Sudheer, the dog’s fierce protectiveness of Soman’s body had posed a problem for the police and the fire force. “The dog was not allowing the personnel to enter the bathroom or inspect the body. It is learnt that Soman had been living in that house with only the dog for company in that house for the past several years. It is clear that the animal had resolutely guarded its owner’s body for more than one day,” the official says, adding that the post-mortem report stated that Soman had died due to a heart attack. “We suspect the man died Saturday evening, though the incident came to light only on the next day,” he adds.

The body was cremated after the post-mortem procedure. Soman is survived by his wife Geetha and daughter Monisha.