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Pappathi twitches her eyebrow for a brief moment when asked her age. She takes a moment to answer, saying that she is preoccupied with other things. One can overlook her slow response considering, at 74, she has to look after her six-member all-women family while living in a makeshift house by the roadside in Kerala's Thrissur district.
A Dalit and a widow, Pappathi has to worry about feeding her family members besides fighting with her neighbours to be able to live there.
But, this is only one part of the problem. Her granddaughters are not safe, as one minor was assaulted four months ago. Though Pappathi filed a POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) case, the four accused roam around freely, making Pappathi fearful for the safety of her family.
Pappathi's plight was brought to light by Asianet News and for a while, it seemed like there might be some help at hand for these women living by the roadside in Athani for years. The news channel had reported about Pappathi's desperate pleas to government officials to be granted land to build a house.
Pappathi belongs to the Paraya community, once considered untouchable. She used to live in Wayanad and was widowed 15 years ago.
After her husband's death, she made a living selling lottery tickets.
With her 36-year-old younger daughter Sindhu and her five young granddaughters, Pappathi moved to Thrissur where she began living in a makeshift house in the unoccupied land.
Now 74, Pappathi is the only earning member of the family and spends her nights standing guard so that her granddaughters are safe from the prying eyes of strangers.
Around four months ago, the family's worst fear came true when a group of four men - all autorickshaw drivers - assaulted one of the minor sisters. A stone's throw away from their makeshift house is an autorickshaw stand.
Narrating the incident, the girls’ aunt Sindhu says:
But, the four accused went into hiding and later obtained bail from the court. The case is still pending.
Living in a ‘poromboke’ land (agricultural land without title), the family has been at the receiving end of their neighbours’ resentment.
While the family was allowed to draw water from the wells in the neighbouring houses years ago, they are now barred from doing so, the family alleges.
When asked, the locals either shied away from commenting, dismissing the family as “living by the roadside”, or accused them of being immoral.
An autorickshaw driver, on condition of anonymity, accused the women of showering abuses on the people without any provocation.
Looking at her granddaughters, Pappathi remarks:
In true VIP fashion, the same day, Wadakkanchery MLA Anil Akkara rushed to meet the family and told the media that he has given directions to the panchayat office to speed up the proceedings to give the family a plot of land.
Thrissur district collector Kowsigan too visited the family and assured that their problems will be solved within a few days. Reporters and television cameras flooded their house, the roof of which, is covered with a blue sheet to prevent the rain water from entering the house. Activists followed.
But in a few days, Pappathi found herself back on the street selling lottery tickets and battling the same issues.
Asked about the assurances they were given by the officials, 20-year-old Sharmila, the second of the five granddaughters, remarked:
At the time of publishing, district collector Kowsigan was unavailable for comment
(This article was originally published in The News Minute. It has been republished with permission.)
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