Minor girl returns from PWG fold

By Our Staff Reporter

KHAMMAM, NOV. 29. A minor girl, Bharatamma, who deserted her mother and joined the naxalites of the PWG Manuguru dalam last week, has at last made a comeback. The return of the 12-year-old girl has put the police on the track of studying the emotional issues that often drive extremists into the forests.

Neglected by her father, a mill worker in Surat, the girl migrated to Gopalraopet along with her mother and a group of agricultural labourers in search of work only a fortnight ago.

The frail looking illiterate girl was firm on helping her mother come out of the jaws of poverty and this made her desert her house in Pedamupparam village in Warangal district.

Keen on getting rid of the girl, her mother sought to marry her off to a widower from a nearby village. The girl opposed the marriage as the death of the man's first wife was shrouded in mystery. He was also accused in the case which was being investigated by the Edulla Bayyaram police. Failing to make her intentions clear to her mother, the girl decided to leave the place to avoid the marriage.

The PWG squad with 11 armed members descended on the village the same night. They had elaborate discussions with the villagers

and enquired about their grievance. Bharatamma announced her decision in the presence of the village people to join the `annalu' and slipped silently into the jungle along with the squad members.

The police who had put up a strong defence against the PWG in the areas and successfully foiled the party plans for recruitment from the villages so far viewed the induction of the girl into the dalam seriously. They descended on the village the very next day. They studied the circumstances that forced the girl to join the naxalites and entrusted the village people who served food to the naxalites as well as the girl's mother who proposed the marriage the task of sorting out the issue at their level. The girl's mother gave up the marriage proposal as she could know from the police fully about the widower and she had her daughter back with her only in three days.

The Khammam police kept a tab on the schools, hostels and colleges in the affected areas to thwart the recruitment efforts of the PWG. The surveillance has also been stepped up in the villages often being frequented by the dalams. A senior official said that the PWG cadre started dwindling in the district following the surrender of some key leaders. More such surrenders were in the offing, he added.

The district had about 90 hardcore members working for the party two years ago. In all 25 of them surrendered in Warangal district and about 15 in Khammam district. The PWG had hardly some 25 hardcore members continuing in its squads in the district.

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