KOCHI: In a dramatic incident, Muvattupuzha MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan accompanied by Congress workers and local residents broke open the lock of a house within hours after the authorities of a bank sealed the property after evicting two minor girls when their parents were in the hospital.
It all began when the officials of Muvattupuzha Urban Co-operative Bank attached the property of the family belonging to a backward community and sealed the house around 1pm on Saturday. They asked the twin sisters to vacate their house located at Paipra panchayat's ward 12 in Muvattupuzha.
The reason: Their father Ajeesh, who is undergoing treatment for a heart ailment at a hospital, had defaulted on a Rs 1 lakh loan. When the attachment was executed with the police's help, their mother was also at the hospital while their two younger sisters were at a relative's place.
The incident drew flak from the residents nearby who informed Congress MLA Kuzalnadan about the fact that the two Class X girl students had no place to go. Kuzhalnadan along with local residents smashed open the lock of the house around 9 pm on Saturday and took the children inside.
"How can a bank lock and throw out the two minors when their parents are not in the house? The bank may have the court order, but the officials should have shown some humanity," said Kuzhalnadan.
The MLA said he had waited for over an hour for the bank employees to return the key to the girls, but they didn’t show up. "Following this, we opened the door. Hadn’t we done it, where would have the Dalit family with their four children go in the night?" he asked.
"When the attachment happened, only the elder sisters were there. The other two kids were in a relative’s house. It is a matter of just Rs 1 lakh. How could they do such an unprofessional act? No court in the country would support such an act," added Kuzhalnadan.
The girls told The New Indian Express that they were threatened by the bank employees and the police. "The officials asked two of us to vacate the house and take away our school bags and books. Though the local people tried to stop them, the officials attached the property with the police's help," said Nandana, one of the twin sisters.
Meanwhile, bank president and CPM state committee member Gopi Kottamurikkal termed the incident as "politically motivated". "Mathew Kuzhalnadan knows me personally. If there was such an issue, he should have called me and informed me about it. Had he done that, the matter could have been settled amicably," said Kottamurikkal.
"The property was attached purely based on the court order. It was only after the situation worsened that I came to know that the parents were not there when the attachment took place. No one informed the officers of their father’s health condition," the CPM leader said.
Congress to repay loan amount
At a press conference on Sunday, Mathew Kuzhalnadan said the Congress has decided to repay the poor family's loan amount. The MLA also said the house owner's treatment expenses would be borne by the party.