A 23-year-old man from the Yerava community (Scheduled Tribe) was shot dead, allegedly by his dominant caste Kodava employer for plucking jackfruits from his plantation. The incident occurred in Karnataka’s Chembebellur village in the Kodagu district on December 27. The deceased Paniyeravara Ponnanna was a labourer at a coffee plantation owned by Porukonda Chinnappa’s family and Chinnappa allegedly uttered casteist slurs before shooting Ponnanna with a double-barrel shotgun.
According to the FIR, Ponnanna and his wife Geetha were plucking jackfruit after their day’s work at the plantation when Chinnappa approached them with a double-barrel shotgun. He threatened to kill Ponnanna for plucking jackfruits, hurled casteist slurs, and fired at him.
The gunshot caused Ponnanna to fall from the jackfruit tree, resulting in fatal injuries.
Chinnappa allegedly left the scene without offering help and the plantation owner Porukonda Bansi Poonaccha rushed Ponnanna to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
The Virajpet Rural police arrested Chinnappa and he is now in judicial custody.
He has been booked under Sections 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Section 3(2)(v) (offence against an SC/ST person) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and Section 3 (carrying a firearm without a licence) and Section 25 (punishment for offences related to arms and ammunition) of the Indian Arms Act.
Following this, several activists criticised the police for not including Sections penalising the use of casteist slurs.
In a statement, the Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) state committee condemned the incident as a brutal atrocity and a violation of democratic principles. “The rule of law is thrown to the winds. The special status that the Constitution accords to Adivasis is made redundant. Might is right, and takes the place of democracy. A member of a socially disadvantaged and oppressed community is cruelly shot to death by a person from a dominant community, all over a jackfruit,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, CPI(ML) leaders and members of the Adivasi Sangharsh Morcha met with Kodagu District Commissioner Venkataraju, District Social Welfare Officer Shekhar, and District ITDP officer Honne Gowda, presenting a list of demands to ensure justice for Ponnanna’s family and the Yerava community. Their demands include an expedited investigation and trial to secure Chinnappa’s conviction, Rs 20 lakh compensation for Ponnanna’s family, a government job for Ponnanna’s wife Geetha, housing for the family, and education support for Ponnanna’s younger brother.
They also demanded full enforcement of protections under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, witness protection, land allocation for the Yerava community for housing and cultivation, and measures to improve education and employment opportunities for Yerava children.
