Palakkad: Kollengode police on Saturday arrested an elderly woman, Ranganayaki, after a tribal worker was locked up and starved for five days at a farm stay owned by her son at Edukkupara, Muthalamada. The main accused, Prabhu (40), owner of the Western Gateway Farm Stay, is absconding along with his associates.

The victim, Chambukkuzhi Vellayan (54), a coconut tree climber from Muchamkundu in Muthalamada, had been working at the farm stay for nearly a decade. According to Kalpana Devi, former president and current member of the Muthalamada panchayat, Prabhu and others detained him after he consumed alcohol from a bottle he found on the property. Vellayan was allegedly assaulted, confined in a small room on the premises, and given food only once a day.

"The incident came to light when another worker, Thirunavukkarasu, informed us and showed them a video of Vellayan’s condition. Around 50 people, including women, rushed to the spot on Thursday evening and found him locked inside a bathroom-sized room. The suspects fled as we entered. Kollengode police later reached the site, broke open the door, and rescued the victim," Kalpana Devi added.

Vellayan was admitted to the Palakkad District Hospital and discharged on Sunday. He told police that Prabhu, along with his mother, had locked him up.

Kalpana Devi said the facility was operating illegally without a license on farmland spread over nearly 40 acres of coconut and mango plantations. She added that Vellayan’s only close family member is a daughter married in Tamil Nadu.

Locals alleged that police were initially reluctant to register a case because of Prabhu’s influence. Kollengode CI Kaaliyappan dismissed this. “We came to know about the incident only after the locals reached the spot and located Vellayan. They should have informed us first. We acted immediately,” he said.

Police registered a case under sections 127(1), 127(3), 115(2), 109, 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 3(2) and (va) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. An investigation is underway to trace Prabhu and his associates.

It was in Palakkad's Attappadi that a 27-year-old tribal man named Madhu was lynched by a crowd on February 22, 2018, on the charge that he had stolen some provisions from a shop.