By Our Reporter
Shillong, Aug 31: The body of 26-year-old Jonathan Rynjah from Mawlai Nongkwar Block 1 is expected to arrive in Shillong from Kerala on Monday.
His body will be airlifted from Kerala to Guwahati, after which the police will assist in transporting it to Shillong.
East Khasi Hills SP, Vivek Syiem on Sunday informed that Jonathan was travelling by train to Palakkad, Kerala, on August 29, when railway staff discovered that a toilet in one of the train coaches was locked from the inside. Upon breaking it open, they found Jonathan’s body inside.
The body was taken to Palakkad District Hospital where the post-mortem examination was conducted on Sunday to ascertain the cause of death, the SP informed.
A case of unnatural death has been registered at the Palakkad Railway Police Station in Kerala.
Earlier, Jonathan’s grieving family was informed of the tragedy by Kerala police on Friday morning. However, due to financial constraints, they were struggling to bring his body home.
His father, Rakesh Shabong had expressed his anguish, stating that the family had difficulty understanding what happened due to language barriers when speaking with Kerala Police.
He had shared that Jonathan had left for Kerala on August 26 to take up a hotel job in Thiruvananthapuram, arranged with the help of a former colleague. Jonathan had previously worked in Kerala but had returned home during the Covid-19 lockdown.
“He recently told us he wanted to go back to Kerala to look for work,” Rakesh had said.
He added that the last contact with his son was on the morning of August 27, when Jonathan informed him that he had boarded a train from Guwahati. Since then, all attempts to reach him had failed.
The heartbroken father had appealed to authorities, elected representatives, and the state government for urgent assistance, saying the family is unable to travel to Kerala to claim the body on their own.
