Chinnammu Bhadran of Four Cent Colony at Mandiram, near Ranni, who — as per the Voter Identity Card issued by the Election Commission of India — was 115 years old, passed away on Friday of age-related ailments. She was better known as the great grandmother of Ranni, one of the five taluks in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district.
Though Chinnammu reportedly claimed she was 120 years old while applying for the voter ID card way back in 1998, the EC, on the basis of statements collected from local people, mentioned her age as 100 years. Her husband, Bhadran, passed away 40 years ago and four of their nine children too have died of age-related ailments.
Chinnammu was honoured on Monday by the local MLA, Raju Abraham, and the Ranni-based Karunya Charitable Trust on the occasion of the International Day for Older Persons.
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Chinnammu, who was a farmworker, was a familiar face for the people of Ranni as she used to go out on long walks every day till she was bedridden with viral fever a few months ago. She used to stay at Four Cent Colony with her grandchildren, Chandran and Omanakkuttan.
Mr. Abraham said Varghese Kurien, a non-resident Malayali businessman, had promised to construct a house for Chinnammu and had already handed over Rs. 1 lakh for the same. A business group in Ranni too announced that they would supply free food to Chinnammu’s family members for the next six months as recognition of the way they had taken care of her for all these years.