Pall of Gloom Descends on Sathalur

SATHALUR: Perni Rajesh (28), a medical shop owner from Sathalur village of Nathella Mandal, who had booked a ticket for Sabarimala to have a darshan of Lord Ayyappa, cancelled the ticket and decided to travel with his five fellow villagers in a van. But, he never reached Sabarimala.
Rajesh, was one among the seven who died as the van in which they were travelling met with an accident at Thoppur on the SalemDharmapuri border in the wee hours of Monday. They had started their journey on Sunday from Sathalur. " I told him (Rajesh) not to cancel the train ticket. But, he did not heed my words. He would be alive if he travelled by train," said Perni Bappaiah, Rajesh's father with tears in his eyes, who received his body on Tuesday. His mother, Sitamahalakshmi, was weeping inconsolably.