After days-long battle, man lays homeless friend to his final rest

FOR P Shanmugavel (55) of Udangudi in the district, the demise of his friend of several years, R Athimuthu of Authoor, last month was not yet the time to part as the photographer after waging a days-long battle was the one who laid the 75-year-old man to rest on Sunday.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Thoothukudi

Calling Athimuthu his "longtime friend", Shanmugavel told TNIE that the hairdresser was staying with him at his farm ever since he was abandoned by his family and became homeless. A diabetic, Athimuthu was admitted to the Thoothukudi Government Medical College Hospital (TKMCH) on June 17. He, however, passed away without responding to medical treatment on July 19. Although the hospital authorities informed Shanmugavel of Athimuthu's demise, they kept back the body at the morgue insisting that the deceased's relatives come