The bodies of two persons who died in landslips triggered by heavy rain in Kottayam district were handed over to their relatives after post-mortem examinations at the Pala General Hospital on Monday. The body of Joseph Chelakkattu, an 80-year-old resident of Poonjar Thekkekara, was handed over to his family and later buried at the Sacred Heart Church, Peringalam. Joseph died after a landslip hit his house on Sunday night.

The body of Sangeetha Arul Lal, a native of Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu, was handed over to her husband Venkatesh and friends. She was killed when a landslip hit the two-wheeler she was riding on the Erattupetta-Vagamon road. The post-mortem examinations were conducted at the Pala General Hospital under the supervision of RDO Shahina Ramakrishnan.

An ambulance carrying Sangeetha’s body was escorted up to the Kumily checkpost by Meenachil Deputy Tahsildar Majosh Michael. The Cumbum tahsildar received the body at the checkpost, from where it was taken to Tamil Nadu.

Minister for Water Resources and Housing Mons Joseph, Anto Antony MP, and MLAs Mani C. Kappan and N.J. Sebastian paid their last respects to the victims. The Revenue Divisional Officer in Pala placed wreaths on the bodies on behalf of the State government.