Young Koya artiste: Maoists killed father, but village now peaceful

The Story in Brief

The Hindu reports that on World Adivasi Day, Patra Sowjanya, a young Kommu Koya dancer from Tummala village in Andhra Pradesh's Polavaram district, said her village is now peaceful after Maoists were eliminated. Her father, Patra Mutyam, was shot dead by Maoists in 2014 when she was one. Tummala, once a Maoist stronghold on the borders of four states, now has drinking water, a school, roads and medical facilities.

Sowjanya, a first-year degree student who wants to be a teacher, helps her mother Jayamma by performing. Jayamma, also a dancer, said she does podu cultivation and agricultural labour to support her two daughters and a son crippled by health problems. The reason for Mutyam's killing remains unknown, she said.