The agrarian calm is broken by an eerie sight at a cashew garden in Andhra Pradesh: tribal women wearing sarees tied to tree branches as makeshift nooses around their necks in Andhra Pradesh's Uravakonda town.
Death is the only alternative left: Says Tribal Women
"If you don't listen to our appeals, death is the only alternative left," they are heard saying in a video.
"If you do rid of the cashew gardens here, we'll have no choice but to die," they claimed, explaining that their livelihood is dependent on their cashew gardens.
The women claim that their land is being taken away from them forcibly and given to a granite mining firm.
No Response From Government
"We have not received any money from any granite firm. In exchange for money, some people have illegally sold away our lands. We don't have any documents proving our ownership of the land. The government had permitted us to develop this land. They are now putting in JCBs to flatten the crop", they explained.
"If we stop the mining firm that is trying to build roads through our garden, the Mudugula Mandal revenue officer is making false claims against us and filing cases against us. We want the joint collector to look into it,” said the women.
Officials from the government have yet to respond to a request for comment. On Monday, the tribal families plan to protest at the Visakhapatnam Joint Collector's office.
