Congress legislator Roji M. John on Saturday went to the home of a hearing and speech impaired man here to "apologise on behalf of everyone" who had shared his picture on social media, captioning it the "first drunkard on Kochi Metro".
In the picture, Eldo can be seen reclining on a seat inside the metro.
"This was a cruel joke. Eldo, along with his wife and children, had visited his brother who is hospitalised in a critical condition. On their way back home, Eldo's son asked if they could travel on the newly-opened metro.
"Eldo, who was deeply upset and sad about his brother's condition and tired too, just lay down on a seat," said John adding that nobody should have taken a picture of him in that state and then posted it on social media with a totally wrong caption.
"This should not have happened as neither he nor his wife can express their feelings and emotions like the rest of us as they are hearing and speech impaired," said the first-time legislator, whose constituent Eldo is.
Eldo's son said: "It was I who had requested my parents to take the metro as it had just opened. My father was sad and also tired so he decided to lie down."
Meanwhile, a relative of Eldo said they are ordinary people and have no clue how to go about taking legal action against the wrongdoers nor do they have the money to fight a case.
"Eldo is very sad. We have received many calls since the picture came out. It was most unfortunate that he became a victim," said the relative.
Eldo works with a state government organisation and his colleagues described him as a very simple and extremely nice.
The state's first metro opened for commercial operations on Monday.
--IANS
sg/him/vd
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