Sons abandon aged ex-MLA K P Pillai

KOLLAM: He was a former MLA of Vazhoor and a prominent CPI leader, but he has been abandoned even by his children now.   Kadayanikkad Purushothaman Pillai, 87,  alias K.P. Pillai, who was elected  as CPI candidate in 1967 and 1969 from Vazhoor in Kottayam, which is now  Kanjirappally constituency,  was allegedly expelled from his home by his sons after the death of his wife Subhadramma five years ago.  

He was taken to ‘Gandhibhavan,’ a care home at  Pathanapuram,  by some of his friends in Kottayam who  found him wandering in the streets. Mr Pillai also had practised in the courts of Ponkunnam and Kottayam.    He has three children, including two lawyers.  “Pillai’s daughter and son-in-law  visit him at the care home and the hospital occasionally. However, when a nurse contacted his son, he asked her not to call him again in the name of his father. 

Pillai  rarely speaks about his children and does not blame them for his plight, Mr Punalur Somarajan, director of Gandhibhavan,  told DC. The authorities of  Gandhibhavan tried to send  him  back home with the help of a CPI leader, but Mr. Pillai came back in an autorickshaw after three days saying that he was again expelled from his home. He also suffers  from memory loss caused by damaged nerves, Mr. Somarajan added.

He is now critically ill owing to old-age  ailments and has been admitted to the Thiruvananthapuram MCH after several rounds of treatment at the taluk hospital in Punalur. Meanwhile, the Thiruvananthapuram district collector has ordered a probe into the issue  based on a  public interest petition.