VILLUPURAM: In 2016, when the panchayat authorities constructed a toilet for the 75-year-old R Marimuthu outside her hut in Vettukadu village near Vikravandi in Villupuram district, never did she imagine that the cramped structure would one day turn into her entire household. Ever since the hut collapsed in the monsoon last year, Marimuthu has been living in the toilet.
The illiterate woman, who lost her husband four years back, doesn’t even know whom to approach to get a new house constructed. On rainy nights, when the roof of the toilet leaks, Marimuthu takes shelter in a shed of the nearby Vijayanagar Temple.
“After my husband’s demise in 2020, I was living alone in the decade-old hut made of mud. When the structure collapsed in the heavy rains, I had no option but to move to the toilet. I stuffed the tiny space with a few basic household items and important documents such as Aadhaar card, voter ID, ration card, and bank passbook. I sleep just outside the space, except on rainy days,” said the elderly woman who was sitting at the toilet’s entrance when TNIE visited her place.
For her daily needs, Marimuthu relies on an old-age pension of Rs 1,200 and does collects flowers to earn Rs 30-50 per day. When there is no work or when health ailments worry her, Marimuthu sleeps with an empty stomach. Every now and then, her neighbours provide her with food.
Though Marimuthu is a mother of three, none of them are in a position to look after her. “My two daughters got married and are settled at their in-laws’ place. My son hardly earns enough to feed his own family in Puducherry. My only wish is to live in this land until my last breath,” she said. But, as per the authorities, this wish cannot be fulfilled easily because as per records, Marimuthu’s is a poramboke land where a waterbody once existed.
All these came to light when one of Marimuthu’s neighbours shot a video of the elderly’s plight and posted it online. After the post went viral, the village assistant visited the place and suggested they could move her to an old-age home. But Marimuthu refused.
However, villagers allege that the official threatened her for bringing up the issue with the media. They added that the officials even took a bribe of Rs 1,500 in order to issue her husband’s death certificate. “The poor illiterate woman thought it was a mandatory fee,” said a villager.
Villupuram Collector C Palani told TNIE, “I have asked the tahsildar to inquire and collect details of the woman. As the land she occupied is poramboke, an alternative site will be allotted, and a house will be constructed under the Kalaingar Kanavu Illam scheme.”
However, Marimuthu reiterated her desire to stay on the same land. The villagers support her and alleged it is only the authorities’ claim that the land is poramboke. “Over 35 families have resided here for over 50 years, and the nearby pond has been dry for many years,” they added. Marimuthu continued her daily chores, hoping a hut will be built in the same place where she could live with contentment.