KOTTAYAM: The Odalil family at Elanthoor in Pathanamthitta district should be relieved. Fifty-six years have passed since young family member Thomas Cherian was killed, aged 22, after an Indian Air Force aircraft crashed over the Rohtang Pass in Himachal Pradesh. They did not hear anything about him all these years.
On Monday morning, Aranmula police informed the family of the recovery of the mortal remains of Cherian. Now the family is waiting to receive it so that they can conduct the funeral and lay the body to rest in the family cellar at St Peter's Orthodox Church, Karoor.
"After Aranmula police, Army headquarters too called up asking for more details," said Thomas Thomas, brother of Cherian, four years younger than him.
"My brother had been a craftsman in the Army, and he served in that post for three years. He was a bachelor," said Thomas.
"I was working in Haridwar when I was informed of his death," said Thomas. Cherian was the second of the five children of O M Thomas and Eliyamma. The eldest son, Thomas Mathew, passed away while the other three, Thomas Varghese, Mary Thomas and Thomas, are residing at Elanthoor. O M Thomas was a former panchayat member of Elanthoor. Eliyamma got a pension in his son's name till she died in 1998.
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