Kerala woman who was forced to abort now leaves home after threats from CPI(M)?

According to the woman’s husband, CPI(M) workers demanded that the couple withdraw their complaint against the party’s branch secretary.

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Just weeks after Kozhikode native Josna Shibi was forced to undergo an abortion after allegedly being kicked in the stomach by a local CPI(M) leader, the family claims that they have now been forced to leave their home.

Josna, her husband Shibi and their three children have allegedly been threatened by local CPI(M) leaders and have been forced to leave their own home as they are scared.

Josna was allegedly kicked in the stomach in February when she was forced to intervene in an argument between Shibi and their neighbours over a land dispute, where Shibi was being physically assaulted.

Read: Kerala woman forced to undergo abortion after being kicked by CPI (M) leader

Seven CPI(M) activists, including CPI (M) Velankodu branch secretary Thamby, were arrested in connection with the incident and are presently out on bail.

Josna and her family were forced to leave their house in Velankode due to the threats of party leaders and workers. They shifted to a rented house at Thamarassery — 17 km away from Velankode — on April 3.

“The local party workers insist that we change the complaint against Thampy, to remove him from the list of the accused. They kept forcing us to say that Thampy didn’t hit Josna, but he was simply present there. They even offered Rs 65,000 to change the statement,” Shibi told TNM.

He also alleged that the accused are out on bail, but they don’t even follow the bail conditions.

“We have complained to the SP and the DySP, but there is no result. The Women’s Commission, based on our complaint, directed the police to give us protection but that remains only on paper. The party workers even made a disabled woman give a false complaint against me, saying that I misbehaved with her. The home at Velankode is like a dream home which I built after living a rented house for six-seven years,” he said.

The argument with the neighbours was only the beginning of the family’s troubles. Shibi said that he bought four cents of land, but the neighbours grabbed a portion of it.

“The party workers had interfered in the dispute, saying that I am a new person to this place, while my neighbour’s family has an affinity towards the CPI(M) and the family gives the party more than 20 votes. Now, the party workers in Thamarassery have asked my house owner not to let me live there as I am a problematic person,” he said.

The party, however, has refuted the allegations. CPI (M) Thiruvambadi Area Secretary T Viswanathan, under whom the Velancode area falls, said that the party workers didn’t threaten the family and nor do they have any role in making them shift the home.

"Velankode is an area where the party doesn't have much strength. The right-wing parties are stronger there. Our party workers have no role in the family's decision to shift the house. Also, even in the case pertaining to kicking the woman, only one CPI (M) worker is accused. That too, the BJP has falsely dragged his name into it," he said.