07-07-2025
Off the cuff: Police intervention restores woman's property in Tirunelveli
Star appeal
What was meant to be a routine inspection at a government school in Nangavalli took an unexpected detour when a top Samagra Shiksha officer allegedly told a postgraduate teacher — in front of her students — that she resembled an actress. The teacher complained, but the issue hit a bureaucratic speed bump. Instead of pulling up the officer, two DEOs questioned the teacher and students, filed reports, and higher-ups in Chennai decided to let it slide. The officer, said to be well-connected in Salem's education circles, was quietly transferred — no warning, no action. And just like that, the complaint was wrapped up with a neat bow. Teachers are left wondering if accountability too took a transfer along with the officer.
-N Dhamotharan, Coimbatore
God as registrar?
Remember that old Tamil flick Palayathamman, where a baby tumbles into a temple hundi and the goddess adopts it? Fast-forward to real life at Padavedu Renugambal temple in Arani — only this time, it's not divine intervention, but a property row. A retired army man, neck-deep in family drama, lobbed his land documents into the hundi — because why go to court when you've got gods? Trouble is, hundi rules are clear: what goes in, stays in. And while those papers hold no legal weight, sentiment is expensive — and allegedly costs Rs 20 lakh in bribes to pry them out. The temple trustee chairman, a DMK man no less, is allegedly in the middle of it. God's piggy bank has never seen such high-stakes paperwork.
- Rajalakshmi Sampath, Tiruvannamalai
