KOLLAM: A Malayali boy, who was shot by unidentified assailants during Deepavali celebrations in Lucknow on October 29, succumbed to his injuries on Thursday morning. Noel Thomas, 11, son of Thomas Pereira and Nisha Thomas, Aluvila Vadakkathil, Kumbalam, Kundara, was under treatment at the King George Medical College in Lucknow for the last two weeks. Noel Thomas was studying in standard IV of St. Thomas School, Janakipuram, Lucknow. Thomas Pereira is an employee with a private company there and Nisha Thomas is working in the Lucknow branch of SBI. They have been settled in Lucknow for the last four years.
The incident took place when Noel Thomas went to the street in front of their house to watch Deepavali celebrations around 10.30 p.m. His father, failing to find him back home after a long time, went in search of him and found him lying near their compound gate in an unconscious condition with a small wound on his neck. Two days after the bullet was removed through a surgery, an inflammation in the body led to his death, it is learnt. The police failed to conduct a forensic test even after the hospital authorities handed over the bullet, the parents alleged.
Based on a petition filed by the child’s grandmother, the Kerala DGP contacted the Uttar Pradesh police chief seeking action. The Malayali associations in the area protested in front of the hospital demanding a probe and expressing their concern over the lack of safety in Lucknow, the constituency of Union Minister of Home Affairs, Rajnath Singh. Mr N.K. Premachandran, MP, assured the family to take up the issue in Parliament. The couple has a daughter, Niya, 8. The boy’s body will be laid to rest at the St. Michael’s church at Kumbalam on Friday.
