Kasaragod: A former RSS worker who died after battling oral cancer was abandoned even in death by his family. His two wives, children and sister all refused to claim his body, leaving it to a female Muslim League leader to perform his last rites according to Hindu customs.
Narayanan Thottathodi (64), a native of Chigurupade in Meenja grama panchayat in Manjeshwar taluk, died at Kozhikode Medical College on Thursday night after undergoing treatment for nearly a month.
He was a daily wage labourer who had been active in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing Hindutva organisation, till about 20 years ago.
The story of Narayanan’s final days began a month ago when Narayanan was found lying in a near-death condition on the veranda of an abandoned shop in his village.
Meenja panchayat’s Chigurupade ward member Sherif Chinal called in Irfana Iqbal for help. Irfana is the Kasaragod District panchayat member from Manjeshwar division and also runs the Sheikh Zayed Old Age Home at Uppala, 7 km away. “I went there to bring him to our old age home,” said Irfana, who runs the Sheikh Zayed Foundation, named after the founder of the UAE.
“But what we saw was a dying man. His ribs were visible.” Narayanan told Irfana that he had not eaten for seven days. “I checked with the residents and they confirmed it,” she said.
According to Irfana, Narayanan had advanced mouth cancer, and the odour from his untreated condition kept people away from him. Volunteers of the Sheikh Zayed Foundation shaved him, bathed him and cleaned him up.
Irfana then informed the District Collector and the District Medical Officer, who advised that Narayanan be shifted to Kannur Medical College Hospital at Pariyaram. “But as no bed was available there and his condition required palliative care, we took him to Kozhikode Medical College,” she said.
Throughout his treatment, Irfana said, she repeatedly contacted his family. “We called his sister Kamala, who lives nearby, but she refused to take care of him. We also contacted both his wives several times, even after he was admitted to Kozhikode Medical College. They told us they wanted nothing to do with him,” she said.
Narayanan’s second wife was the younger sister of his first wife. He had children from his first marriage. His second wife had been living separately from him for many years.
According to Irfana’s husband, Iqbal, Narayanan had a violent streak in his younger days, and that was why his family kept away from him.
After his death, Manjeshwaram police informed the family. But none of his relatives came forward to claim the body.
Instead, his two wives, children and sister submitted written consent authorising Irfana to take custody of the body and perform the funeral rites. After completing the formalities with the Medical College Superintendent, the body was brought by ambulance to Uppala and taken to the Cherugoli public crematorium.
Standing in the place of his daughter, Irfana lit the funeral pyre and performed the last rites in accordance with Hindu customs. Social workers Riyas Pilathara and Mehmood Kaikamba also took part in the funeral. “He was not supposed to die at this age. No one bothered to take care of him,” Irfana said. Seva Bharati volunteer Raghu was present to perform the last rites, alongside social workers Riyas Pilathara and Mehmood Kaikamba.
Irfana’s Sheikh Zayed Old Age shelters around 50 abandoned elderly people. She said the foundation recently acquired five acres in Uppala to set up what it hopes will be India’s largest residential dialysis centre, equipped with 200 dialysis machines and offering treatment free of cost.
