If any dispute arises in the community, it is referred to the men of the village, who form an informal panchayat (council), with the eldest or most influential man at its head. References are sometimes, but only seldom, made to the Muppen, a sort of sub-headman of the tribe, except, perhaps, in the particular village in which he resides. The office of both Muppen and Mel Vaken is hereditary, and follows the marumakkatayam custom, i.e., descent to the eldest son of the eldest sister. The orders of the panchayat, or of the headman, are not enforceable by any specified means. A sort of sending a delinquent to Coventry exists, but falls through when the matter has blown over. Adjudications only occur at the request of the parties concerned, or in the case of cohabitation between the prohibited degrees of consanguinity, when, on it becoming known, the guilty pair are banished to the jungle, but seem nevertheless to be able to visit the village at will. When disputes between parties are settled against any one, he may be fined, generally in kind--a calf, a cow, a bull, or grain. There is no trial by ordeal. Oaths by the accuser, the accused, and partisans of both, are freely taken. The form of oath is to call upon God that the person swearing, or his child, may die within so many days if the oath is untrue, at the same time stepping over the Rama kodu, which consists of lines drawn on the ground, one line for each day. It may consist of any number of lines, but three, five, or seven are usual. Increasing the number of lines indefinitely would be considered to be trifling with the subject.