No eye for an eye approach, please

THENI: As many as 500 women labourers from Tamil Nadu were allegedly sexually harassed in Idukki district on Monday as a fallout of the ongoing Mullaiperiyar dam row. According to Uthapuram ward councillor Singh Chellapandi, some of the women were so horrified that they even refused to speak to family members on reaching home. He and other villagers had also tried to rescue the women by proceeding to Idukki in private vehicles at night. Around 17,000 workers living in the border hamlets at Lower Camp, Cumbum, Gudalur and Bodi Mettu work for daily wages in the estates in Kerala.“After this incident we are hesitant to send our womenfolk to work in Kerala estates,” said Chellapandi.Meanwhile, Collector Palanisamy appealed to people here not to adopt an ‘eye for an eye’ approach while reacting to protests in Kerala on the dam row.“We have also intensified security in the border areas of Cumbum, Cumbum Mettu, Gudalur and Bodi Mettu. An executive magistrate (Tasildar) and a police battalion headed by a DSP have been deployed in all four important strategic locations to safeguard our people,” he added.