MADURAI: A sexagenarian Dalit couple from Vadapudupatti, falling within the Allinagaram police station limits of Periyakulam in Theni district, have been running from pillar to post for 11 years to reclaim the house they had pledged for Rs 13,000.In a police complaint, Rasu (60) and wife Muniyammal said they were granted three cents of land in 1976 under the `1-lakh housing scheme. Rasu then built a house on the plot with a bank loan and lived there with Muniyammal. In 1996, he borrowed `13,000 from Selvam, a caste Hindu, of the same village. As acknowledgement of the payment, the moneylender got Rasu’s thumb impression on a blank sheet of paper. Selvam reportedly told the couple that instead of paying him the interest on the amount borrowed, they could let him stay in their house for free. Rasu and Muniyammal agreed to this proposal and went to Kerala, leaving their house under Selvam’s care. They returned to the village in 2001 with the principal of `13,000 and asked the moneylender to hand over their house. At that time, Selvam’s brother, Mayi, was living in it.But, Selvam refused to accept the amount, claiming that the sum borrowed was `1.3 lakh. He said the house would be vacated only if that amount was paid to him. The Dalit couple was also allegedly abused and threatened that they would be murdered if they stepped on the land. A shaken Rasu and his wife last week lodged a complaint with the Allinagaram police, who have registered cases for issuing murder threat and under The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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