An unfortunate incident at Vellicode

 

An unfortunate incident at Vellicode.

One day, I saw a big fire at 10 P.M. at Vellicode junction in 1980. My old house was in the vicinity - about 100 metre south of Vellicode junction.  People came out of their houses and watched it without any idea. One or two people picked up courage and walked towards the fire. I also went there. One or two men said that it was a bus. I saw some people screaming for help with charred bodies. It was a helpless situation. Suddenly, a Mr. Thankamoney contractor, who had a car, picked up two or three victims from the other side and went towards Thuckalay.

I picked up courage and stopped two or three cars. However, everyone returned and nobody was ready to take the victims to hospital. Therefore, I returned and requested my neighbour to give a bicycle to hire a taxi from Mulagumoodu. He obliged and I went to Mulagumoodu and knocked at the door of Mr. Maianayagam, who had a taxi.

As Mr. Marianayagam was known to me, he obliged. When I returned to Vellicode, he arrived at the spot.

However, a Mr. Innasi alone came forward to lift the injured to the car. All others were not ready. I was not courageous enough or able enough to touch them. Then, Mr. Marianayagam and Mr. Innasi managed to take three persons into the car. I sat in the front seat. When we reached Thuckalay Government hospital, I saw three victims, crying for treatment. Mr. Thankamoney contractor had left them at the hospital and went to the police station to inform the matter. The nurses and others on night-duty asked me to take them to the Government Headquarters Hospital at Nagercoil.

Accordingly, I took three serious cases to Nagercoil. The victims could not bear the pain and asked me to rush them to Benzam Hospital- a private hospital at Nagercoil. The Government Hospital was just one or two kilometre away from this private hospital.

When we reached Benzam Hospital, a victim with all his charred body managed to come out of the taxi and made two or three steps forward. The duty doctor was frightened by his appearance and took two or three steps backward. He shouted to take them to Government Hospital.

Then, I took them to Government Headquarters Hospital at Nagercoil. The nurses and others were shocked at the sight of three charred bodies. A man on duty at the hospital asked me to take him to the houses of the doctors. I obliged. He knocked at the doors of three doctors. Then, he asked me to leave the place, lest the police would implicate me. Taxi driver Mr. Marianayagam also murmured, “Our duty is over. We must leave the place.”

We returned quickly. I gave Re.50/- as taxi-fare. Next day morning people whispered that some miscreants had set fire to a bus full of passengers and ran away leaving a bicycle, about 50 metre away in the Vellicode-Mundavilagam road. Eleven people were charred to death. It was the repercussion of the arrest of then former Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, by the Janatha Party Government at the Centre. However, such gruesome incident did not happen in any other place in India.

Next day, I went to college, as usual, but was late by a few minutes. The Principal, Mrs. Daisy David, was visibly upset by what happened at Vellicode. I told her that the incident had nothing to do with the people of my village and that I had taken some victims to hospital. However, she was not impressed but refrained from articulating her pain.

Despite the best treatment, two of the three victims - I took- succumbed to their wounds at the hospital.

Police quickly arrested some people. A few days later, police gathered witnesses for the incident. There were over one hundred witnesses. They came up to my house. Someone told the Sub-Inspector of Police that I took some victims to hospital. He asked, “What is he doing?” “A lecturer” a man replied. He murmured, “This is enough.”. He spared me.

A bad name haunted the people of Vellicode for many years although none in Vellicode had anything to do with the unfortunate incident.