Kasaragod: The CPM-controlled Kerala State Cooperative Bank, branded as Kerala Bank, locked out an elderly woman and her family — including two granddaughters aged three and seven — and took possession of their dilapidated house in Kasaragod after her son defaulted on a Rs 2 lakh loan.

Janaki T P (70), her son Vijesh T P (40), his wife Vijina, and the couple’s two young daughters spent Wednesday night out in the open, huddled on three beds that the officials had mercifully left outside before sealing the house in Parappachal village of Kinanoor-Karinthalam Grama Panchayat, 20 km east of Nileshwar. It was a frightful and sleepless night. "I was terrified for my children's safety because this place has a lot of wild boars," said Vijina.

The family said they were not leaving their home, an old three-room tiled-roof dwelling. They set up a temporary kitchen outside and are camping in the sit-out, hoping Kerala Bank will give them at least one more year to repay the loan. "This is our ancestral house. We have nowhere else to go," she said.

On Wednesday, March 19, Vijina and Vijesh took Janaki to Kanhangad for a pre-operative check-up ahead of her cataract surgery. They returned around 6 pm to find their belongings outside and the bank's notice pinned to the wall: "This property has been taken into possession by Kerala State Co-operative Bank Ltd under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act. The public may contact the bank for any deal related to the property". Though Janaki owns 26 cents, the bank's notice mentioned only 16 cents.

Fall from coconut tree
In 2013, Vijesh took a loan of Rs 2 lakh from the Kasaragod District Cooperative Bank’s Nileshwar branch. (In 2019, 13 district cooperative banks in the state merged to form Kerala Bank. Malappuram District Cooperative Bank joined the entity in 2023.)

Vijesh, a coconut climber, said he borrowed the money to start a business of felling rubber trees in bulk and selling the timber. "It didn’t work out," he said.

In March 2015, Vijesh fell from a coconut tree and broke his right thigh bone and foot. People raised money for his surgery and treatment. "There is a steel implant in his thigh. We don't have money to take it out," said Vijina.

With these injuries, Vijesh had to give up climbing coconut trees. Before the fall, he had repaid Rs 37,000 to the bank. With defaults, the loan amount rose to Rs 6.50 lakh.

The family said they applied for a loan restructuring with the loan relief committee. The bank reduced the outstanding to Rs 2.90 lakh. "But we barely earn enough to run the family and buy medicines for our mother," said Vijina.

The family lives on welfare pensions. The panchayat gives Vijesh Rs 1,600 every month as a disability pension. His mother receives another Rs 1,600 as an elderly pension from the state government.

"Every March, the bank comes and threatens us. I thought this time, they were doing the same," said Vijina.

But in February, Kerala Bank sought the Kasaragod Chief Judicial Magistrate's help in securing Janaki's house and land.

CJM Rajeevan Vachal on February 25 found the bank had followed due process under the SARFAESI Act to recover the money. "In this context," he wrote in the order, "it is just and essential to depute an Advocate Commissioner for taking possession of the secured asset".

He deputed Adv Harshitha K M as the commissioner to take possession of the house and hand it over to the bank. She was directed to file the compliance report by April 25.

When contacted, Kerala Bank director from Kasaragod, Sabu Abraham, said the bank followed due process before approaching the court. "We consulted the social workers in the neighbourhood too. If the bank had not taken possession of the property, it would now amount to violating the court's direction," he said. "If there is any mistake on the part of the bank, it will be corrected. But as of now, I don't see any mistake," said Abraham, an influential CPM leader and member of the party’s Kasaragod District Committee.

Vijesh said the bank should have been more considerate. "I am not saying I won’t repay. Give me one more year," he pleaded.