DHARMAPURI: Two families filed a petition with the Dharmapuri administration on Monday seeking action against people who had ostracised them from their village for breaching the kangaroo court's order to give claim to ancestral land.
The petitioners, P Madhappan and M Prasanth, from B Chettipatti near Palacode, stated that they had not been allowed to conduct a funeral, prevented from working in the village, and the women in the families had been kicked out of SHGs and not allowed to use the public roads.
Speaking to TNIE, N Saravanan, a CPM cadre from Palacode, said, "This was a dispute between two family members, but a kangaroo court composed of supposed elders from the village had ordered Madhappan to give up his claim on ancestral land. But he defied the orders and got the court's directions. For failing to comply with the orders of the kangaroo court, the two families were ostracised."
"When my father died last month, they did not allow us to conduct the last rites and our family members were prevented from attending the funeral. We were also denied access to roads. I run a milk procurement business for a private company, and people in the village have been ordered to stop providing milk. So, most villagers had stopped interacting with us.
We have been systematically isolated and our livelihood is affected. Women in our family have been kicked out of the SHGs. So we have filed a complaint with the police, collector, revenue department and other redressal forums for justice," Madhappan said.
A senior police official told TNIE, "This was initially a family dispute over a claim to a well and a small portion of land. However, some local people had gotten involved and this resulted in the two families being affected. We have issued a summons to the six members involved and following the investigation, action will be taken against them. We had also gone to the village, gathered every person there and conducted an awareness program to prevent such mundane local practices that violate law and order. "