Kodaly: “I didn’t know, my dear, that you were bitten by a snake. If I had known, I would have saved you…” cried his mother Johnsy, crying uncontrollably as the body of 8-year-old Aljo was brought home around 11 am on Monday to their house at Kadambodu Kavungal near Kodaly. His father, Siljo, sat shattered, gently stroking the child’s cheeks. The grief of his sister Angel, unable to bear the loss of her little brother, moved everyone present to tears.

Meanwhile, his brother Anosh, who is undergoing treatment in the hospital, was brought on a video call to see his sibling one last time. “He couldn’t even see him one last time… what will we tell him when he comes?” the family sobbed. Johnsy’s brother, who works abroad, had also arrived.

Whenever father Siljo stepped out, both his sons would accompany him, making Aljo familiar to everyone in the locality. That is why people from across the area gathered in large numbers to bid him farewell. During the funeral rites, Siljo collapsed.

After the rituals, the body was taken from the house around 3 pm and buried at the cemetery of St Sebastian’s Church, Kodunga.

Six classmates came to see their friend

Aljo’s classmates from Kadambodu School also came to bid him a final farewell.

There is only one division in the second standard at the school, with just six students — making them all close friends. Teachers, who began to speak about Aljo, were unable to complete their words due to overwhelming grief.