ADILABAD: Pandram Lingubai, a 45-year-old Adivasi widow, has been ostracised and forced to live in a small hut on the outskirts of her village (Kommugudem of Jannaram mandal) for six years, only because she suffers from leprosy.
The district officials have failed to cure her and Ms Lingubai is relying on traditional ayurvedic medicines purchased with her pension money.
Her son Rajender and relative Gangubai, who live in the village, bring her food every day, but they do not live with her.
Kommugudem village community head Pusam Sonerao said that they did not have any objections to her return as she owned a house and land, but she should be cured first.
In rural areas, leprosy is still considered a deadly disease and people feel that those suffering from the disease (pedda rogam) should not live within the community as it is considered an ill omen.
Ms Lingubai, meanwhile, said that she had become accustomed living on her own after the villagers evicted her.
The hut she is living in had been constructed by her family long back. She said health workers had visited her long ago and had given her some medicines.
She added that doctors at the Jannaram hospitals had said that they did not have medicines for leprosy. She expressed her willingness to return to the village if she was cured.
Members of Human Rights Forum, led by state secretary Atram Bhujangarao, recently met Ms Lingubai and had lunch with her and touched her hands to show people that it was not a life threatening disease and was not contagious.
Apparently 30 years ago, a woman from the same village, who had leprosy, had committed suicide by consuming pesticide, as she was unable to withstand the pressure mounted by the villagers.
