Family happy to see Mundagaru Lata abandon Naxal path, return to mainstream in Karnataka

She rarely met her family members in the last 24 years.

“We haven’t seen her for the last 15 years. I am happy, she has come back,” said Sheshe Gowda, 65, elder brother of Mundagaru Lata, a Naxal who returned to the mainstream.

Lata joined the Maoist movement 24 years ago. She has studied up to class 5. Later, she joined tailoring training at Jayapura. “During the training programme, she did not come home regularly. We were told that she had joined the armed movement. However, we had no information about this,“ he said.

She rarely met her family members. “When I questioned her decision about joining the movement, she told me not to inquire about the movement. She stopped coming home. She didn’t visit us when my mother and brother died,” he said.

Sheshe Gowda said, all these years, the family suffered a lot. Many times, the police questioned them. “The police suspected that we were helping her. But, we never met her. I am happy that she has come back. We will take care of her if the government clears all cases filed against her,” he added.