Land sharks in TN put Dutchman on the run

CHENNAI, APRIL 10: For Johannes Viebergen, 50, life in India has been a nightmare. With his flowing white mane putting out a quiet appeal...

CHENNAI, APRIL 10: For Johannes Viebergen, 50, life in India has been a nightmare. With his flowing white mane putting out a quiet appeal for peace, Viebergen, looks terrified and is on the run. He claims he is being harassed, victimised and exploited by his adopted countrymen.

Vierbergen came to India from Holland some 30 years ago and has lived in the country for the past 10 years. He is married to a Tamilian of Malaysian origin and is a resident of the Kodaikanal hill station since 1989. His wife, Karunagi, chose to keep her Malaysian passport. After the spurt in real estate prices, this area was sought by a few persons who wanted the 1.4 acre plot for a five-star hotel.

Vierbergen refused the offer as the property, he said, could not be sold under Section 7 of the Charitable and Religious Trust Act, 1920. “They (the group of persons, including a foreigner) wanted to teach me a lesson,” Vierbergen said.

“They cannot kill me as killing a foreigner in India is asking for trouble and so they chose toseparate me from my family,” an embittered Vierbergen, accompanied by his two children, narrated his painful experience to The Indian Express.

His wife is now in Malaysia. He was with her until a week back, leaving their two children, Susanne (14) and Stefan (19), all alone without money. Stefan had to fly back to India from Holland where he was working after completing school in Kodaikanal to save money for a University course.

When told to go to India, he rushed back to find his sister alone and uncared for.

Vierbergen has sought an explanation from the Indian High Commission in Malaysia. He had done so earlier in Holland also, after an airport official at Tiruvananthapuram sent him back without permitting him to meet his family.