KRISHNAGIRI: Three persons were arrested following a 70-year-old woman was tied to a coconut tree and assaulted by her relatives in a land dispute near Kaveripattinam on Saturday evening.
The arrested are B Kumar (53), his wife Kalpana (45), and his nephew N Prabakaran (35) of Aathupallamkottai near Kaveripattinam.
According to police sources, "Eight acres of land were co-owned by two brothers-Balakrishnan and Urumu Chetty of Aathupallamkottai village. A few years ago, Urumi Chetty sold his four acres of land which was later bought by his sons. Balakrishnan's son and daughters did not sell the land and used it for their agriculture activities. But Urumi Chetty's sons were allegedly seeking share from four acres of land owned by Balakrishnan's son Kumar. On Saturday evening, when Prabakaran, nephew of Kumar, was involved in agricultural work, the victim Unnamalai (70), wife of Urumi Chetty allegedly questioned the farming activity. Subsequently, Kumar and his wife Kalpana also joined the heated arguments and Unnamalai was then tied to a coconut tree."
"Following the issue, a relative of Unnamalai, M Annamalai (45) of Dharmapuri and a BJP cadre, went to support her and was also allegedly attacked by Kalpana and her relatives. Later Unnamalai was untied and the incidents were recorded by Unnamalai's relatives. Both Unnamalai and Kalpana were admitted at Government Krishnagiri Medical College Hospital on Saturday night. They had land dispute for the past seven years," police said.
Meanwhile on Sunday, a video of Unnamalai being tied to a tree and Annamalai attacked by Kalpana was widely circulated in social media.
Based on a complaint from Unnamalai, a case was booked against Kumar and his relatives at Kaveripattinam police station and three were arrested on Sunday night.