Andhra women farmers stage protest with noose around their neck

Visakhapatnam, April  (IANS) With 'noose' around their neck, some tribal women farmers in Andhra Pradesh's Anakapalli district staged a protest over the plans to hand over their cashew plantations to a mining company.

A video of the women's symbolic protest at Uravakonda in Madugula mandal has gone viral on social media.

The women are seen standing under a tree with 'noose' around their neck and the other end of the long cloth tied to the tree branches.

Worried over losing their livelihood, the women said if their cashew plantations were destroyed, they would have no option but to end their lives. "They are pushing us towards death," said one of the women.

According to them, the land they cultivate is being taken away forcibly and allotted to a granite company.

The women alleged that some people have given their land to the company in exchange for some money. The women claim to be the real owners of the land but they do not have papers to prove their claim.

They say the government has allotted them the land and they have been cultivating it for several years.

They also alleged that Mandal Revenue Officer (MRO) have threatened to file cases against them if they obstruct the mining company. Alleging that the MRO and other officials are acting like agents of a mining company, the women demanded a probe by the joint collector.

The mining company is laying roads through the lands being cultivated by the tribal women. They say construction of roads will destroy the plantations and thus deprive them of their livelihood.