PALAKKAD: A steady stream of people moved through a modest house in Kadampazhipuram on Saturday morning, each waiting for a last moment with Sreenanda, the 15-year-old whose sudden death during a trip to Karnataka has left the locality reeling.
From the first hours, relatives, neighbors, classmates and teachers gathered, filling the house and yard. Many remained calm, while others broke down, struggling to process the loss of a girl remembered for her bright smile, academic promise and active participation in school activities. For her parents, Ramesh and Rohini, and elder brother Sachin, the grief was overwhelming.
The arrival of the ambulance carrying Sreenanda’s body plunged the area into deep grief as mourners gathered in large numbers around the house.
The body was laid out for the public to pay their last respects. By afternoon, the remains were cremated at Ivarmadam in Thiruvilwamala, marking the end of days of frantic search and continued uncertainty.
Sreenanda, a tenth standard student at Kadampazhipuram High School, had set out on April 4 with her parents and relatives forming a group of 40 people for what was supposed to be a party.
After visiting Hampi, the group reached Manikyadhara viewpoint in Chikkamagaluru’s Baba Budangiri Hills on Tuesday evening. It was there, in a narrow window between 17:20 and 17:30, that she disappeared.
