Even as a literate Kerala continues its hard struggle to efface the shame of lynching Adivasi youth Madhu at Attappady in February last year, the victim’s cousin told The Hindu that she is averse to voting in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Nineteen-year-old K.M. Priya from Kadukamanna Ooru of Attappady has even refused to get her name enrolled in the voters’ list. It’s a way of protest by this young Kurumba woman who has not yet completely overcome the shock inflicted by a section of the people who beat her cousin Madhu to death.
“We are a neglected lot always. Before the elections, people will be very nice and helpful, but not after,” Ms. Priya said. A first-year economics undergraduate at Government College, Malappuram, Ms. Priya said poverty was not the main issue her community faced living deep inside Attappady.