Three siblings who lost parents in single night get helping hand

KOCHI: Three siblings who lost their parents on a fateful night a week before Onam have some monetary support to look forward to. Anika, Aryan and Anisha, studying in classes 8, 5 and 2 in that order, have been staring at a bleak future since their father Sukru (Sajan) stabbed mother Lija Bhaskaran before ending his life on September 5.

The state government has decided to give them Rs 2,000 each monthly, considering that they have only maternal grandparents to look after them. It was Kunnathunad MLA P V Sreenijin who approached the state government seeking help.

“Health Minister Veena George took up the case and directed the women and child development department to take care of them. However, after the grandparents said they would look after the children, the government decided to provide Rs 2,000 each for the children every month,” said Sreenijan.

Lija, 41, and Sukru, 40, who was an Odisha native, had been married for 14 years. “Theirs was a love marriage. Sukru had been living in Kerala for the past 20 years. He met Lija while working at a matchstick company,” said Lija’s elder sister’s husband Sunil CG. According to him, both eloped to Odisha. “They came back after a week and the family got them married,” he added.

“After the first child was born, Sajan started drinking. It became a habit after the third child’s birth. He used to come home inebriated and pick up fights. Later on, he began accusing Lija of having an affair with a youth who lived nearby,” said Sunil.

On the night of the incident, Lija had called Sajan, who was living separately, home to give him a shirt she had bought for him for Onam. “However, little did she know that he had come with a plan to kill her. Lija, who was stabbed fatally by Sajan, was found vomiting blood by her eldest daughter,” said Sunil.