Krishnagiri: A pal of gloom descended on Gudisathanapalli near here after people lost hope about their man, one of those trapped in the Siachen avalanche tragedy, returning alive.
The 26-year-old N.Ramamoorthy, a sepoy of 19 Madras regiment, was among the 10 people who were buried alive in the snow after the avalanche hit their post on Wednesday in Siachen, located at the height of 19000 feet.
The sepoy’s family in Gudisathanapalli, 50 km from Hosur in Krishnagiri, was informed, soon after the incident, by a friend of Ramamoorthy.
However, his relatives unable to believe were waiting with hope that the sepoy might be alive.
On Friday night, they lost hope and are now getting ready to mourn his death following information that the rescue team struggled to reach out to the men trapped very deep in the snow.
Ramamoorthy is a first generation army man of his family who joined the service after completing class ten. His marriage took place three years ago with 22-year-old Sunitha and the couple has no children.
“God has become deaf in my case because my prayers for him to be safe were not answered” grieving Sunitha told Deccan Chronicle.
She further said, “he spoke to me over phone a few days before the incident and promised to return home on two months leave in April. We planned to visit my mother’s place in Karnataka and now have to go alone without him.”
Sunitha describing herself as the unlucky woman, said, “I will be the most unlucky woman if I cannot see his face in case his body was not recovered.” She begged the Army to make all efforts to recover her husband’s body for which she and others in his village are still waiting.
TV news spelt trauma for Siachen victim kin
People of Chokkathevanpatti village near Madurai mourned the death of sepoy Ganesan at Siachen avalanche on Friday.
The family members learned about his death only through television news channels. Ganesan had spoken to his parents on Tuesday telling them about heavy snowfall in the valley. “We never expected that were the last words we would hear from him” said Pandi, a close relative.
Ganesan joined the military service after he completed class 12. He was inspired by the legendary stories of villagers who served the Indian Army for many years now. Nearly 20 youth from this village are now serving in the Army.
“Twenty-five-years ago, one Devaraj from our village who served as caption in the army died when he stepped on landmines while serving in Kashmir,” said a villager adding that he was inspiration for Ganesan to join the army.
Hordes of people from neighbouring villages visited his house since morning and expressed their condolence to his parents. His father Ganapathi and mother Ranjitham were seen inconsolable.
“At least if we would have seen his body, we will be bit relieved,” said the relatives. The villagers have put up posters in the village to express their grievance.
