Gender barrier: How Tamil Nadu women leaders operate in shadow of violence

Menaka's murder shook panchayat politics and rural governance in Tamil Nadu, especially members of Tamil Nadu Women Panchayat Presidents' Federation

Even by normal standards of violence in Tamil Nadu’s panchayat politics, the events of March 29, 2001, were troubling. Menaka, 35, the feisty dalit president of Urapakkam panchayat near Tambaram, a Chennai suburb, was hacked to death right in front of her office in daylight.

It was 11:30 am, when a gang of four men, armed with long knives, barged into her office. While one stood guard at the door, the others slashed her neck, head and face. She was dead before her brother Nehru could rush to her defence.

Menaka’s murder shook panchayat politics and