HYDERABAD: On International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on Monday, the police managed to prevent three Chenchus from ending their lives in the Nallamala forest in Nagarkurnool district. The tribals were trying to register their protest against Forest Department officials who were trying to evict them from forest land by claiming that it was theirs.
The trio had put up a video where they were seen taking a pledge in front of their deity and making a pact to die by suicide in the Nallamala forest. They were also seen walking into the forest holding pesticide bottles. The video immediately went viral, triggering panic in the area. Achampet Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) K Narsimhulu said that the police rushed to the location and rescued the trio before they could drink the pesticide. “After counselling, we handed them over to their families,” he said.
Chirra Ramulu, a leader of the Chenchu community who was among the three who planned to die by suicide, said that they have been making a living by cultivating in the podu lands, and that Forest officials have been harassing them time and again.
In the video, Ramulu can be heard saying that they had made rounds to every government office to register their grievances and only received humiliation instead of any solution. Placing all land-related documents in front of the deity as their last offering, they walked into the forest into their ‘ancestor’s land’ to sacrifice their lives.