THOOTHUKUDI: Alleging that her husband forced her into a divorce for not giving birth to a boy child, a woman along with her three girl children stage a stir at the collectorate seeking action against her husband and her in-laws.
In a petition submitted to District Collector Dr K Senthil Raj during a grievance redressal meeting, the petitioner, M Annamani of Naduvakurichi near Sawyerpuram, said her husband Maharaja had deserted her after giving birth to three girl children.
"The third baby was born recently and the father had not come to visit her yet", she said, adding that he is seeking a divorce from her for not giving birth to a male heir for him.
"When I call him over the phone, he threatens to kill me. Now I am hapless and have no way to support myself and my children," she said. She recalled that Maharaja had hidden his first marriage from her before they got married in 2017, but she continued to live with him whatsoever. Annamani also claimed that the Sawyerpuram police refused to take action on her complaint. The collector should take steps to unite her husband with her, Annamani urged.
Meanwhile, a 15-year-old M Murugalakshmi, who lost one of her eyes in an accident involving a government bus in which she travelled five years ago, petitioned the collector demanding he facilitates surgery to remove the steel rod and fix a plastic eye. "I have spent more than Rs 4.9 lakh so far by borrowing money at high rates of interest. However, the government has not compensated us citing the case that is pending in the court," said Muthupandi, the petitioner's father hailing from Vadakku Thittangulam.
Similarly, farmers from Ettayapuram and Pudur alleged that 22 villages of the Pudur union have been missing out on the insurance relief released for the maize crops damaged by incessant rains during fiscal 2021-22. The farmers of 22 villages belonging to Kadalkudi firka, Pudur firka, and Muthalapuram firka have not received their insurance relief though these villages account for around 10,000 acres of maize fields. The farmers urged the district administration to provide them with insurance relief.
Farmers want shooting order to cull pig menace
The population of pigs and deer has gone up in several villages of the Pudur area along the river Vaippar region in recent years. According to the farmers, the pig menace has become uncontrollable as they come in huge herds and damage the crops during both the day and night hours, and even aggressively attack the farmers when chased away. Alleging that the characteristics and biological factors of feral pigs and wild boars are relatively the same, and they could interbreed, the farmers wanted the pigs living along the river Vaippar river beds to be categorised as wild boar.
Pointing to a government order that allowed the shooting of wild boars that damage agriculture crops in the western districts like Thiruvannamalai, Tirupattur, Vellore, Hosur, Coimbatore, Sathyamangalam, Salem, and Madurai, the farmers urged the district collector to recommend such an order from the state government to cull the feral pigs.