Family of 7 ostracised in Ramnad

RAMANATHAPURAM: Two persons have been arrested in connection with the ostracising of a family at Gandhi Nagar near Thirupalaikudi. Veeramahalai, a fisherman from Gandhi Nagar, was ostracised by a group of villagers over a land dispute. Veeramahalai told Express that former village committee president Lingam had given two cents of poromboke land to him some eight years ago, for which he paid `5,000 to the local panchayat as donation. Under the government housing scheme for the tsunami-hit, a house was built on this land.Later, a group supporting the present local commitee head threatened Veeramahalai to give back the land. Subsequently, the fisherman approached Thiruvadanai court and obtained a stay order on vacating him from the land.Infuriated by this, some villagers allegedly entered the house and damaged household articles. They then went to the seashore and dragged to the ground Veeramahalai’s fiberglass boat, which was anchored at sea. In the event, the boat was damaged. Later, Veeramahalai’s family — comprising wife Muthalagi and five children — was ostracised from the village. An upset fisherman lodged a complaint with Thirupalaikudi Police, which registered a case on nine persons and arrested two of them — Malaikaruppu and Kuddaian. A search is on for the other accused in the case.