Lady Leader of the Landless

The 12-year-old bride came to stay with her husband, Perumal, in Pullucheri, Madurai district in Tamil Nadu.

- F. M. BRITTO

Chinna Pillai used to go along with women from the village to work in the fields of the high caste landowners. Exploiting the vulnerability of these landless dalits, the wealthy landowners paid them below normal wage. Their pleading for an increase in their daily wages went unheard.

To make ends meet, these hapless labourers were forced to borrow at a high interest of 300 per cent from moneylenders. Chinna Pillai, now a mother of two sons and three daughters, also became a victim of this oppression.