After a long-drawn-out battle, Preetha Shaji returns home

Former judge P.K. Shamsuddin hands over key in the presence of activists

Happy homecoming: Preetha and her husband Shaji with their grandchild in their house at Pathadipalam near Edappally on Sunday.

When Preetha, accompanied by her husband Shaji, stepped into their house at Pathadipalam near Edappally, which they had almost lost, on Sunday, it turned out to be a virtual homecoming they had long been fighting for.

It also marked a new chapter in the life of the couple who had been fighting relentlessly to regain the house and the 18-cent holding in which it stood.

P.K. Shamsuddin, a former judge of the Kerala High Court, handed over the key to the couple in the presence of hundreds of activists who stood by the family during its nearly two-year-long agitation.

Earlier, Ms. Preetha set afire a copy of the laws, which, according to her, were used to snatch away the houses and holdings of the poor and vulnerable sections.

Trouble began in the life of the couple when they stood as guarantors for a loan availed by a relative of Mr. Shaji. The bank initiated loan recovery proceedings against the couple when the borrower defaulted on payment. The Debt Recovery Tribunal had ordered auctioning of the property for a consideration of ₹37.8 lakh.

Public agitation

The following months witnessed the individual fight of the couple evolving into a public agitation by victims against the provisions of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (Sarfaesi) Act, and support poured in from all quarters.

Ms. Preetha, supported by the Anti-Sarfaesi Peoples Movement, led the struggle and fought a legal battle in the Kerala High Court which eventually pronounced a judgment in her favour.

Those who witnessed the event on Sunday included Education Minister C. Raveendranath and Congress leaders V.M. Sudheeran and P.T. Thomas, MLA.