Iritty: Ten months after a tiger broke into their shed and slaughtered four cows, the nightmare continues unabated for the beleaguered family. As they struggle to survive a medical crisis and destitution, a bank attachment notice from Kerala Bank has delivered another crushing blow.

Given a 10-day ultimatum to settle their dues, Sarasu of Pullattukunnel and her son, Rupesh, residents of Palathumkadavu in Ayyankunnu, are in deep despair. With no steady income to cover Rupesh’s renal treatment or even put food on the table, the threat of losing their property has pushed them to the edge.

The tragedy struck on the night of January 9 this year, when a tiger entered the small dairy unit run by Sarasu and Rupesh. In a single night of carnage, the predator killed two milch cows, a pregnant cow, and a heifer. The immediate loss of their daily dairy income obliterated their financial foundation, leaving them entirely unable to service the loan they had taken to set up the enterprise.

To construct the farm, the mother-son duo had availed a ₹4-lakh loan from the Iritty branch of Kerala Bank in May 2024. They managed to repay ₹65,000 before the tragedy struck. With their herd gone, their cash flow dried up and the installments stopped. The bank has now issued a recovery notice demanding ₹4,39,289 including accrued interest, within 10 days, warning of coercive recovery proceedings if they fail to comply.

The family recounts that in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, senior political leaders, including Minister Sunny Joseph, who was the local MLA then, along with the then District Panchayat Vice President (now President) Binoy Kurian, had visited the spot, spoke to bank officials, and assured the family of a loan waiver or concession.

However, when the family recently approached the bank pleading for relief, officials turned them away, stating they had received no such directive from higher authorities. A similar pledge made by the then Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran, promising favourable government intervention, has likewise remained an unfulfilled promise.

Promised aid from CMDRF fails to materialise
The Forest Department did disburse ₹3 lakh in compensation, an amount determined by the Animal Husbandry Department, for the cattle lost in the tiger attack. However, the sum fell far short of covering the family’s mounting losses, let alone helping them rebuild their livelihood. To make matters worse, their desperate pleas for an additional ₹2 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) and a waiver on their agricultural loan yielded no results.

Tragedy struck the household on multiple fronts. The mother had donated one of her kidneys to save her ailing son, with the surgery funded through the generous contributions of local villagers. But the transplant failed. Today, the son continues to require regular dialysis and intensive medical care, leaving the family in such dire financial straits that they can barely afford life-saving medicines.

Local residents insist that state intervention must not end with a mere ₹3 lakh handout for a family stripped of its sole breadwinner and means of survival. There is a growing demand from the community for the government to step in and write off the bank loan entirely.

Although the prowling tiger was captured the very day of the attack, the family whose life it dismantled has never recovered. Now, with the threat of bank attachment hanging over their heads, the mother and son find themselves pushed to the brink with nowhere left to turn.