Trigger warning: This article contains references to sexual abuse and suicide. Please use your discretion in deciding if, when, and where to read.
I
t was U. Deepak’s birthday on January 17. The 42-year-old sales executive, who worked at a garment company, lived with his parents in a two-storey house in Govindapuram, a couple of kilometres from Kozhikode city in Kerala. He had promised his father, Choyi Ullattuthodi, and mother, K. Kanyaka, that he would take them to Guruvayur temple, an ancient Hindu site dedicated to Lord Krishna and popular among pilgrims. For the closely knit family of three, whose lives were rooted in routine, such pilgrimages were not rare, Kanyaka says.
Deepak had instructed his parents to be ready by the afternoon for the journey that would take about 2 hours. He said they would leave once he returned from work. But when he came home, his parents realised that he was not himself.
“He was very upset,” Kanyaka recalls. “He didn’t eat. Without any explanation, he said, ‘Amma, we will go to Guruvayur later’.” Kanyaka kept asking him what had happened, but Deepak did not respond. He shut himself inside his room.
