SANDHYA R, a 47-year-old councillor from Pala municipality in Kerala’s Kottayam district, has been working in London for the past nine months on a dependent visa after mounting debts forced her to seek work abroad.
Her situation worsened in April when her husband, Vinukumar, also 47, died of a suspected heart attack at his East Ham residence in the UK, Onmanorama reported.
Sandhya has been unable to afford repatriating the body to India or arranging a burial in the UK. The body remains in a hospital mortuary. She was elected from Murikkumpuzha ward on a CPI ticket and is currently the chairperson of the Public Works Standing Committee in Pala.
A post-graduate and former temporary UP school teacher, she left for the UK in September 2024 after selling the family’s house and vehicles due to financial losses in the share market and online loans.
She told Onmanorama that her husband had lost his phone and struggled to maintain contact before his death. Sandhya had briefly returned to Pala in February 2025 to vote in a no-confidence motion that unseated then chairman Shaju Thuruthan. She said her party arranged her travel.
Though a British Malayali charity offered help for the funeral, she declined after rumours spread in her hometown that she was profiting from the funds. “I didn’t take a penny from anyone,” she said.
Municipal chairman Thomas Peter and councillors Neena George and Maya Pradeep confirmed that ward and committee functions continue in her absence. Sandhya said she is in touch with residents and wants to secure a better job to support her daughters, aged 19 and 15. “That’s my only goal now,” she said.
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