A tearful farewell was accorded to Apheel Johnson, a Plus One student who died on Monday of a head injury caused by a flying hammer during the State Junior Athletic Meet at Pala.
The mortal remains of the 17-year-old were laid to rest at the St. Mathews CSI Church, Chovvur, in the presence of thousands of people around 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
Heart rending scenes were witnessed at the St. Thomas Higher Secondary School at Pala and later at the Synthetic Stadium, where the mishap had taken place, when his body was kept for public viewing.
His teachers, friends and their parents, and several prominent sports persons paid tributes to him. Choked with emotion, many of them found it hard to hold back their tears while a few others were seen consoling Apheel’s parents George and Darly.
Political leaders, including Jose K. Mani, MP, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, MLA, CPI(M) district secretary V.N. Vasavan and District Congress Committee president Joshy Philip, turned up to pay their last respects.
Mar Jacob Murickan, auxiliary bishop of the Pala diocese, led the prayers held at the the St. Thomas school. The funeral services were led by CSI East Kerala diocese bishop V.S. Francis.
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Meanwhile, the three-member panel constituted by the State government to look into the accident involving Apheel is likely to submit its report to the State Sports and Youth Affairs Director on Wednesday. The panel, comprising K.K. Venu, former director of Sports department at the University of Kerala; M.B. Sathyanandan, former coach at SAI; and V. Diju, badminton player; had already visited the stadium at Pala to collect evidence.
