GURUVAYOOR: Benoy Thomas from Chavakkad South Palayoor, who went to Kuwait for the first time on the 5th of this month, had only one wish: to enlarge the one-room house built under the three-cent PMAY scheme. However, death awaited him there.

He had joined a job as a packing employee at Hypermart. The family's hopes were shattered when their friend Ben confirmed his death.

Benoy Thomas (44), son of Thomas Babu in Thiruvalla Thop, got married and settled in Chavakkad but maintained his connections in Thiruvalla. Friends there arranged his visa.

The family had lived in a rented house for seven years. Later, they bought three cents of land and built a small one-room house. He was an employee at a shoe shop in Pavaratti. Expatriate Welfare Board Chairman K.V. Abdul Khader informed that Benoy was missing after a fire in his flat in Kuwait. His family reported that he was online until two in the morning on the day of the fire. They were the ones who finally confirmed his death. His mother is Annamma Thomas. His wife is Jinitha and his children are Adi and Ian. NK Akbar, MLA, condoled the demise of Benoy Thomas.