The group, returning from Hyderabad, got stranded at Kerala-Karnataka border
Stranded near the Kerala-Karnataka border well past midnight with little hopes of immediate help, a group of 14 women decided to dial Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s number as their last resort. At 1:30am, the call was picked up by the chief minister himself after just two rings.
After listening patiently to their plight and pacifying them, Vijayan soon gave them directions to contact the district collector and Superintendent of Police (SP) of Kerala’s Wayanad district. He even gave them the contact numbers and assured that he would ask the officers to do the needful.
The women were returning to Kerala from Hyderabad and had started their journey at 7am on Tuesday in a tempo traveller that they themselves had arranged. However, by the time they reached Muthanga near the Kerala-Karnataka border around midnight, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the nationwide lockdown.
The driver, who had promised to take them to Kozhikode, changed his mind upon hearing about the lockdown. He said the group would be dropped off at the Kerala-Karnataka border.
The group was left in a dilemma. It was well past midnight when they reached the Kerala border. In their panic to leave Hyderabad, the women had carried only a few bottles of water for the journey. They had not had food nor used washrooms for almost a day for fear of lack of hygiene.