Securityman’s death leaves sons helpless
One among the many tasks that G. Balaraju was entrusted with was to enter details of the Covid19 dead bodies in the ‘death register’ before they were sent to the mortuary in Gandhi Hospital. Last week, his colleague had to do something which no colleague would ever want to do: Enter Balaraju’s details in the death register, after the
47-year-old died of Covid19.
Having lost his wife in
2005, Balaraju worked hard to raise his two sons, sometimes working extra shifts. Balaraju was the only earning member. His two sons have to take care of their 70-year-old grandmother Rajamma, who is in a state of shock after having lost her husband and son in a year.
“I lost my mother when I was seven. Since then, my father, with help from my grandparents, raised both of us. Last year, my grandfather passed away and now my father is no more. Destiny has been cruel to us,” said G. Kalyan Kumar, sitting in his one-room rented house in Mallapur, Nacharam. Kalyan is a degree final year student of Vivekananda Degree College, Sitaphalmandi.
An employee of the Agile Security Group, Balaraju had been posted in Gandhi Hospital for 15 years and rose to become assistant security supervisor. Kalyan says he is unsure if he would be able to complete his degree.
“The responsibility of taking care of my brother and my grandmother is on me and if I continue to study how will I pay the fee for both of us? Earlier, I used to do part-time jobs. Now, I have no option but to give up studies and work full-time,” he said, adding that they needed to pay a monthly rent of `2,000. His brother, who tested positive, is undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital.