A day after she had left for the anganwadi in the neighbourhood with her mother, three-year-old Kalyani returned to her house at Mattakkuzhi in Thiruvaniyoor panchayat, lifeless aboard an ambulance amid incessant wails of her family, relatives, and neighbours on Tuesday (May 20) around 3.30 p..m.
All the while, her mother Sandhya languished in police custody after being arrested for murder. Her father Subhash could not stop moaning about how his little daughter was reluctant to go and agreed only after he lovingly encouraged her. He had taken a picture of his child on his mobile phone, all set to go to the anganwadi—a photo that would forever serve as a painful reminder, likely to haunt him for the rest of his life.
Even more heart-wrenching was Kalyani’s ten-year-old brother weeping inconsolably, giving his little sister a final kiss along with his father and grandmother before her body, shrouded in white, was taken away for the funeral. A large number of people from the neighbourhood and far away flocked in when the body was kept for the people to pay homage at her house for about an hour. Her little body was consumed by fire at the crematorium of Thiruvaniyoor panchayat around 5 p.m.
People in the neighbourhood remember her as a jovial child, almost always seen smiling. Her anganwadi teacher, Soumya, and helper, Bindu, shared similar memories, still struggling to come to terms with the fact that the child who had waved them goodbye just the day before was now gone.
They recollected that Kalyani was having food when her mother Sandhya came to pick her up. They recalled that the child had sweets that were distributed to celebrate another child’s father’s birthday. Throughout, Sandhya sat by the anganwadi door, looking at her daughter. Kalyani’s parting gesture, with a promise to return the next day, will likely remain etched in their memory.
CCTV footage capturing her cheerful moments at the anganwadi now stands as a painful reminder of a day that ended in tragedy at the Chalakudy river.
Published – May 20, 2025 10:00 pm IST
