Kozhikode: Behind broken wall, family lives in fear

Kozhikode: It is not just by accident that someone knocked down the compound wall of a house, where a mother and grown-up daughter stays for years.  The same set of people allegedly demolished the wall thrice. Chevayur police registered a case against 11 of their neighbours. The family says that they still live in fear. It was on March 26, when the family of Nisha M. constructed the compound wall with hollow bricks around their property in Karuvissery near Karaparamba. 

Soon after it was constructed, some of the neighbours, who wanted to use the land to pass their vehicles, demolished it. Ms Nisha and her daughter Archana, a BTech graduate, filed a complaint with the Chevayur police. When they constructed the wall again on the next day, it was again demolished. This time, Chevayur SI Shiju E.K. advised them to install CCTV cameras around so that the miscreants can be identified, if they do it during the dark of night.

“The view from our house is not very clear to the wall, so we installed the CCTV camera on the roof of another neighbour with their permission. That time, these people tried to disconnect it, and I had to keep my pet dog under the camera to keep them away. Then, again on April 7, they demolished the wall, wearing helmets,” said Ms Archana.

The issue started when the neighbours wanted more space to bring vehicles to their plot through the plot of Ms Nisha, which was inherited from her mother.  According to her, the family was ready to sell the land, which is less than a cent, but demanded a minimum of Rs 1.5 lakh. However, the four families that required the plot were ready to give only Rx 20,000.  Ms Nisha says compromise talks were held with the presence of CPM leaders and even their district secretary was intimated.

“My husband frequently travels due to the nature of his job and daughter and me live here alone. Our privacy is affected, when people use our compound day and night. We need protection to continue living here,” said Ms Nisha. The SI said that seven people were identified from the CCTV footage and a fresh list of accused would be prepared after thoroughly inspecting them.