Three-year-old Suhi Sahak woke up on the morning of July 29, all restless with excitement, recalled her father Abdul Rauf. She was going over to her grandparents’ house in Wayanad’s Chooralmala to spend a few days. Wearing a surgical mask, only Rauf’s eyes were visible, as he spoke to TNM outside the mortuary at the Family Health Centre (FHC) in Meppadi on August 1, two days after massive landslides devastated Chooralmala. But those eyes said more than his words could. 

‘We have been looking through all the bodies being brought to the mortuary and community hall nearby to find our daughter. Some bodies were mangled beyond recognition, so we tried to check for dismembered parts like hands, or fingers to find out if it was her. But we haven't found her yet,” said Rauf, as he and his wife Noushiba waited at the FHC. 

Rauf and his family hail from Koduvally in the neighbouring district of Kozhikode. It was from their home in Koduvally that Suhi went to Chooralmala on July 29.  But during the early hours of July 30, three major landslides hit Mundakkai and Chooralmala, resulting in the death of over 250 people. The death toll is expected to rise further up and many hundreds are still missing. 

‘When we sent her to her grandparents, little did we know it was the last time we would see her. I hope we get to see her just once more,’ Noushiba’s voice broke as she uttered these words. 

The FHC at Meppadi is where most of the dead bodies recovered from the landslide sites are brought in for postmortem. Following the postmortem, the bodies are placed at a community hall nearby for relatives to identify. Every time a medical volunteer came out of the mortuary and described identification markers of bodies from Chooralmala, Rauf and his wife rushed to check if it was their daughter. 

Rauf and Noushiba are braving unprecedented grief as they also look for eight other members of their family, apart from Suhi. The child was at Chooralmala with 13 family members, including her grandparents, uncles, and aunts. Five of their bodies were recovered and cremated.

A relative accompanying the couple told TNM that they are still hoping for a miracle, praying that their child, along with the other relatives, is alive somewhere.