Slain Kerala SFI unionist Abhimanyu's sister gets married amidst Maharaja's College students, CPI(M) leaders

To call it picturesque would be an understatement to describe the beauty of Vattavada. Laced with the beautiful Neelakurinji flowers, the sight of mountains near this hamlet in Idukki is something that one wouldn't want to miss. The students of Maharaja's College, Ernakulam have heard a lot about it and they were all set to pack their bags to go there this August to attend the wedding of their friend, Abhimanyu's sister Kowsalya's wedding. 

Fate had other plans. While Abhimanyu was eager to attend the wedding, he was stabbed to death on July 2. In her younger brother's absence, Kowsalya married Madhusudanan in a wedding arranged by the CPI (M) on November 11. The ceremony that was held at Vattavada Kuriakose Elias Maidan near Abhimanyu's house saw the presence of more than 1,500 people including the SFI leader's friends, teachers and prominent CPI(M) leaders that included Electricity Minister MM Mani. 

Here are more photographs from the ceremony:

"Usually the weddings that the CPI(M) conducts are not in accordance with any religious belief. But not this one. Here, the party just took care of the expenses," says Sachin Kuriakose, Ernakulam District Secretary, SFI. Sachin was Abhimanyu's senior in Maharaja's College. "People have been telling us that they'd never seen a wedding with such large participation in a long time," he adds.

Arjun Krishna, another student of the same college, who was stabbed along with Abhimanyu, also attended the wedding and gifted a ring to Kowsalya. "Arjun was adamant about attending the wedding even though he wasn't in the best of health. We were really tired when we got back from Vattavada, but Arjun straight away went to college to write his exams," says Sachin. He also tells us that the people from Abhimanyu's village are staunch supporters of the SFI and CPI(M). His brother Darijith recently attended the SFI All India Conference in Shimla.