A court in the Indian state of Kerala has granted a Catholic nun and 16 other people a special permission to kill wild boars that destroy their farms.
On September 18, the Kerala High Court gave special permission to Sister Jofi Joseph and 16 members of a farmers’ group to kill wild boars.
“Whatever we plant, the pigs destroy them within a few days and we are not able to procure anything from our farm,” said Sister Joseph, a member of the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel.
In an interview with Matters India on September 20, the nun said the court order has given the nuns and the farmers much relief.
“Many of our sisters were engaged in farming in our four-acre land during the pandemic, but we got no produce,” said the nun.
The court order allows Sister Joseph to keep a licensed gun, or any other weapon, to kill wild boars with the condition that they have to inform the forest department whenever they kill a boar.
The villagers filed the complaint against the pigs before the High Court with the support of “We-Farm,” a group involved in protecting the rights of farmers in Kerala.
We-Farm was established by Carmelite priest Jose Thundappara in 2014 when some villagers were caught in conflict with the forest department for fishing in a reservoir insider the forest.
For details of the story, visit Matters India
