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Lives in a tree for 5 years

Lives in a tree for 5 yearsBecause of the fear to be arrested a man lived and continues to live on a tree. Jaya Naik is 50 years old and is a resident of Chindri Maliguda, a village located close to the Koraput[1] district headquarter, some 500km south of state capital Bhubaneswar. As a result of a dispute he had with his father and brother over irrigation of land, the man was arrested in 2002 along with his wife and 17-year-old son.

 

They had to spend at least three days in jail after the court sent them to judicial custody.

 

Naik, after his release, became depressed and demonstrated unusual behavior, said his wife Daimati.

 

“He turned violent and one day attacked me with a weapon. I was injured. I went to the police station and lodged a complaint,” she said. Police arrested him and again kept him in jail for two days. After his release, he developed such a fear of being arrested again that he fled to a nearby hill and lived there for about one year, she said.

 

 “Then we spotted him on a mango tree located near the village,” she added.

 

“He lived on the mango tree for about three years. Now for the past one year, he has moved to another tree near by and has been living there.”

 

Naik has built a wooden platform on the branches of the old Simili (silk cotton) tree where he lives. He goes home for dinner every evening, “but never discusses our problems. He hardly talks,” Daimati said.

 

“We met several tantriks and performed puja by selling most of our land in the hope that my husband will be all right and start living like a normal man but it was in vain.”

 

Daimati’s father Khagapati Mali has been taking care of the family, while Naik lives on his tree armed with an axe and refuses to meet anyone.

 

NOTES: 1) Koraput is a town and a notified area committee in Koraput District in the Indian state of Orissa.

HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, a defence enterprise of the Government of  India) is only 15 km from Koraput town. The HAL factory makes military aircraft engines for MIG and expanding for Sukoi assembly line. The HAL factory and township is surrounded by hills and forest. It employs 6000 engineers and technicians, all are staying in the township next to the factory. Nearby Semliguda is developed to cater this population for marketing as well as entertainment. Semliguda is mostly inhabited by trading community. These traders and contractors are doing business in HAL, Sunabeda and NALCO, Damanjodi.

 

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