KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to file an affidavit in the suo motu proceedings initiated in the case related to the lynching of Madhu, a tribal youth at Attappadi, on February 22.A Division Bench directed the government to file the affidavit within 15 days. It also termed it ‘unfortunate’ that schemes being implemented for the welfare of tribals were not reaching the needy.
The state replied it had taken the incident seriously. “However, death in this case did not occur due to shortage of food. Rather, the deceased was allegedly beaten to death by an irate mob for stealing food,” the government said. It also submitted the land and shelters handed over to Adivasis were in illegal possession of private parties which was a serious issue.
The court initiated the suo motu proceedings based on the letter of Justice K Surendra Mohan seeking its intervention. Madhu was beaten to death by a mob at Agali, Attappadi, allegedly for stealing a small quantity of rice.
Mohan’s letter said there were a number of state government schemes for the welfare of tribal people as wells as various poverty alleviation programmes.But if the victim was forced to steal rice because he had nothing to eat, it meant the schemes were not reaching the needy. This called for a revamp of the implementation procedures to ensure the schemes reached the intended beneficiaries, the letter said.