Wife of Pulwama martyr Kalavathi and her crores of problems

BENGALURU: Twenty-five-year-old Kalavathi, wife of CRPF martyr H Guru, is waging a battle of a different kind: That of quelling rumours — of the amount of money that’s come her way since her husband’s tragic death, of being forced by her in-laws to marry her husband’s younger brother and of rift within the family over division of money.
While the grapevine in Gudigere village of Mandya’s Maddur taluk is Kalavathi has received crores of rupees from the public and the government and that the family was fighting over it, the woman in the middle of the storm told TOI: “This is untrue.We are yet to come to terms with the tragedy. We don’t even know how much money has come in.” She claims not to have checked her bank account.
Kalavathi dismissed talk on her being pressurised to marry her brother-in-law as “utter nonsense”. “We are still in grief,” she said. Guru and Kalavathi are first cousins with the couple having married seven months ago.
Speculation in Gudigere and nearby towns is Kalavathi has received donations to the tune of over Rs 10 crore and there’s a rift between her and her mother-in-law (Guru’s mother) over who gets how much. Figures vary depending on who you ask. Local MLA and Karnataka transport minister D C Thammanna said: “The family has received crores, but I do not know the exact amount.”
Those close to the family said: “The monetary contributions could be around Rs 6-7 crore. The contributions are still pouring in.” A senior bureaucrat said: “This is not the kind of money that Guru’s family had seen or thought of.”
While political leaders handed over money to the tune of Rs 1 crore, a businessman from the Gulf is said to have donated a like amount. This apart, people have been coming in from the nook and corner of Karnataka to express solidarity with the family members and many of them are reportedly handing over cash. Their donations are said to have crossed Rs 75 lakh.
This (fight within family over sharing of compensation) is untrue. We are yet to come to terms with the tragedy. We don’t even know how much money has come in. I haven’t checked my bank account yet. The talk (about pressure on her to marry Guru’s brother) is utter nonsense. We are still in grief
Kalavathi | WIFE OF GURU
Money poured in after reports on television
We have seen schoolchildren from Yadgir and Koppal districts personally come over and hand over the money they had collected from fellow students and well-wishers,” a Madiwala community (to which Guru belonged) leader said.
With Kannada television channels reporting about Guru’s sacrifice and putting Kalavathi’s bank account details in the public domain, a large number of people have transferred money directly to her account.
“The total amount that the family received in monetary assistance would add up to more than ?5 crore. This excludes the compensation package to be given by the Centre,” said a community leader, who has been liaising with the family members following reports of infighting in the family.
The Karnataka government has handed over ?25 lakh compensation to the family; ?10 lakh each has come from Infosys Foundation, Alvas Education Trust and National Travels. Sumalatha Ambareesh announced that she would donate 20 guntas of land to the family.