Chitralekha, an autorickshaw driver and Dalit activist in Kerala, known for her fight against the caste and gender discrimination she had to face primarily from the CPI(M)’s trade unions, passed away on Saturday, October 5. The 48-year-old, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two months ago, breathed her last at a private hospital in Kannur following respiratory failure.

Chitralekha belonged to the Pulaya community, a lowered caste group in Kerala. Her conflict with the trade unions began two decades ago, in 2004, when she had to discontinue her nursing degree due to a financial crisis and began working as an autorickshaw driver at the Edat auto stand near Payyannur in Kannur district.

Her endeavour, however, was met with hostility from the other drivers at the rickshaw stand who were members of the Centre for Indian Trade Union (CITU), which is affiliated with the ruling (CPI-M). The drivers allegedly began interfering and causing trouble in her work life, even calling her casteist slurs and directing misogynistic attacks on her and her family. Some people were arrested after she filed a formal complaint with the police, but the harassment allegedly continued.

Her autorickshaw was set on fire twice, in 2005 and 2023, allegedly by some CITU members. During this time, Chitralekha and her husband were even named as the accused in some suspicious police cases, including one in which she and her husband were arrested and spent 20 days in the Kannur district sub-jail in 2014.

In 2014, she staged a 122-day protest in front of the Kannur Collectorate highlighting the ostracism she has had to face. In 2016, former Congress chief minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy allocated five cents of land and Rs 5 lakh for her to construct a house. However, the order was revoked when the Left Democratic Front government came to power later that year. The case is currently awaiting a decision from the Kerala High Court.