THOOTHUKUDI: Alleging that the district administration failed to remove a wall built on a disputed land that blocked access to their church, Scheduled Caste (SC) people living in Sankaralingapuram said they would boycott the assembly elections. The village comes under Vilathikulam assembly constituency and has nearly 900 voters, of which 500 voters are from SC communities.
The SC residents allege that revenue officials colluded with a private individual and had given patta for one-acre poramboke land which had been used as common place by the villagers. Also, the SC people allege that patta issued for the land was unlawful, which led to the construction of the wall.
Since 2024, the SC people have staged several protests demanding razing of the wall and cancellation of the patta. Two cases in this regard are pending at Vilathikulam sub court and at Madurai bench of
Madras High Court respectively.
In 2025, district collector K Elambahavath visited the villagers following which a petition challenging an 2012 HC order allowing fencing of 27.5 cents poramboke was filed, but it was rejected on the grounds that time for filing appeals had lapsed.
“Of the 30 acre poramboke land available in the village, SC people were using only one acre for common purpose. However, dominant caste people grabbed it, and revenue officials supported them”, alleged Murasu Tamilappan of VCK.
Speaking to the TNIE, M Nagaraj, coordinator of the Adidravidar nila meetupu & Theendamai Suvar ethirpu porattakulu, said “We have been protesting since 2024 to reclaim the land and remove the wall. However, no action has been taken”.
“Both ruling party and opposition party failed to support our cause”, Nagaraj said adding that they have been protesting every weekend for the past one year. Since they did not get justice, the villagers have decided to boycott the elections, he added.
When contacted, Kovilpatti Sub Collector Himanshu Mangal said the SC residents would be convinced to take part in the electoral process. However, he refused to reveal the status of the cases pending in courts.