KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — “I'm sad because my mother could not see the tattoo (of her name) I have on my left hand, done especially for her.”
These words were spoken by the son of the victim of the Jalan Masjid India sinkhole incident, M. Suria, 25, who remained inconsolable after the body of his mother could still not be found on the sixth day of the incident.
Suria told Bernama that the tattoo of his mother's name Vijayaletchumy was imprinted on his left arm during his recent vacation in Thailand.
“Mother is everything to me. No matter what, I will do everything for her ... that's why when I count the tattoos on this hand, her name is the first that appears.
“But I didn't expect this to happen ... I didn't have time to show how much I loved my mother,” he said.
Suria said the last time he spoke to Vijayaletchumy was early in the morning on the day of the incident.
"I contacted her at 1.30 am and told her that I had tattooed her name. Mother was very happy and I could feel the happiness in her voice.
"The morning before she fell, she had called me but my phone had run out of battery and I could not speak to her," he said.
He added that his brother-in-law was the one who had informed him about the incident and the fate of his mother on August 23.
Immediately after, Suria rushed to Kuala Lumpur from Thailand via Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah.
"I did not hesitate to book an e-hailing ride from Changlun, Kedah to Kuala Lumpur although it cost RM600," he said.
Suria added that he and his family hope that his mother’s body can be found quickly as they intend to bring it back to their hometown in India and bury her in Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh.
"It has been five days and we have come to the point of accepting her fate," he said yesterday.
The family has been stationed at the location of the incident since it happened to keep track of the latest information about the search.
On August 23, a 48-year-old Indian national identified as Vijayalaksmi was walking along the pavement on Jalan Masjid India near the Malayan Mansion when the ground beneath her caved in. She remains missing after falling into the eight-metre sinkhole.
— Bernama
