Days after two Youth Congress activists were murdered in Kasargode, Kerala Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has announced that his family has decided to call off the wedding reception of his son and daughter-in-law. The funds earmarked for the two wedding receptions scheduled to be held on Thursday and Sunday will be used to fund the marriage of the sister of one of the two activists who was slain.
Chennithala’s son Rohit got married to Sreeja on Sunday in Kochi and a wedding reception was to be held in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday and another one on Sunday in Haripad.
“It is improper to conduct the receptions when the entire state mourns the death of the two youths,” Chennithala told the media on Wednesday.
According to a report by the Times of India, the decision to call off the reception was taken by his son and daughter-in-law themselves. As per the report, Rohit said, “No human being can think of celebrations at such a time. When the whole state is mourning the killing of the two youths, we thought it will not be proper on our part to celebrate.”
Kripesh (22) and Sarath Lal (24) were attacked and killed on Sunday night. While Kripesh died in Kasaragod district hospital, Sharath succumbed to injuries on the way to a medical facility in Mangaluru in Karnataka.
Rohit said that the condition of Kripesh’s home had moved him beyond words. As per a report by News 18, Chennithala had backed their decision to cancel the reception and said that he is happy about the decision that was taken by his son and daughter-in-law.
In a statement, Chennithala said that he had visited the houses of both Kripesh and Sarath Lal and he feels that both the families need help from all corners as they are not economically well off.
The police on Tuesday had arrested a local CPI(M) leader in Kasargode, in connection with the murders.