The fiancee of the 30-year-old Indian-American, who died in a tragic boat accident near the Statue of Liberty, remains inconsolable and did not leave her room for two days, according to media reports.
The accident struck only two days after Jijo Puthuvamkunnath had posed for a wedding portrait with his fiancee Sissy Chacko, and he was at the harbour celebrating his upcoming August wedding with his friends.
"She can't accept it. He was supposed to be here for a barbecue [yesterday]. She can't believe he is dead," said Alice Joseph, a family
friend, reported The New York Post.
Jijo Puthuvamkunnath, having origins in Kerala, died and two others were injured when two pleasure crafts collided in an accident being blamed on a person operating the vessel under the influence of alcohol.
The 30-foot ProLine craft was being operated by Richard Aquilone, who smashed thuvamkunnath's boat leaving his family and friends devastated.
Aquilone, 39, has been charged with vehicular manslaughter and operating the boat under the influence of alcohol.
Chacko, 27, reportedly remained locked in a room at her home in Long Island two days after the disaster.
"(Chacko) is in trauma... She doesn't want to face the outside world yet. Only her parents go in and out of her room," said another family
friend.
Puthuvamkunnath, an Indian immigrant who worked as a physical therapist with children in New Jersey, was a graduate of Rutgers University.
Earlier, NY Daily News reported that Puthuvamkunnath was focused on his work before he met and fell in love with Chacko.
"He was looking forward to his future with her. I'd never seen him so happy," said Bilin Pathrose, a cousin of the victim.
They had been dating for a year-and-a-half before he proposed to her on a theatre marquee.
The marriage was scheduled to take place on August 28 ceremony at Assyrian Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary in New Jersey.
Puthuvamkunnath's father, Varghese, appeared to be completely distraught over his son's untimely death.
Varghese clutching a wedding invitation in his hand said, "Give this to the man who killed my son."
During his arraignment at the Manhattan Criminal Court, Aquilone said he was sorry.
"I apologise for this, really," he said.