Angul: In a shocking incident, as many as seven families of a village at Badahula village under Handpa police limits in Angul district remained socially boycotted for last two years. The villagers have been dumping their garbage in the houses of these families. Some villagers even pelt stones and wine bottles at their houses. Fearing for their lives, the families Friday left their village and approached the district collector for help.
Earlier, they had brought the matter to the notice of Handpa police, sub-collector, SP and Human Rights Commission (HRC), but to no avail.
According to the complainants, the villagers denied basic rights to these families including water from the local pond and access to the village temple. They are denied to join festivals and death rituals.
If anyone of them dared to protest, they were assaulted in public. Moreover, the villagers did not allow them to perform the last rites of their kin in the village burial ground. They constructed boundary walls around the houses of these families and prevented them from talking over phone to their relatives and friends.
They were also denied MGNREGS work and ration goods in the village. The villagers demanded Rs 1 lakh each for each member of the ostracised families to include them back in the village. There are at least 30 members in the seven ostracised families that amounted to a penalty of Rs 30 lakh, the complainants said.
The families had sought the help of local police, but to no avail. They approached the DM who advised them to lodge a written complaint against those who harassed them. He also advised them not to leave their village and assured police protection. PNN