Villagers of a tiny village in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district have been reduced to the butt of jokes as their village’s name is pronounced as the pandemic corona. Here we are talking about the village named ‘Korauna’.
The villagers here allege that they have been mocked by their relatives and people of neighbouring villages since day one of coronavirus outbreak.
They allege during these days they have been undergoing the most unpredictable experiences of their lives. Whenever they approach any strangers to get any work done, hearing their village name they start treating them as they are coronavirus patients.
Neighbour villagers and relatives have started avoiding them, they allege. They are treated as corona spreaders whenever they visit a local market or closeby town for basic needs. Traders have also stopped going to their villages to collect their produce.
To make matters worse, relatives have stopped coming to the village while many prefer not to marry off their daughters to youths of this village. Similarly, youths of other villages also back out from marrying girls of this village.
Similarly, if they get someone on mobile phone over some work, they face similar discrimination. They say they are being treated so even if they repeatedly try to make people understand that the disease has nothing to do with their village’s name.
Meanwhile, the villagers have decided to approach the district administration and appeal the government to end their mental sufferings by renaming their village. Residents here have expressed their views to share the name of the village as soon as possible.
Earlier, there were reports of a few people (suspected corona patients) committing suicide after being treated badly by fellow villagers in various parts of India.
Now, with the number of corona cases increasing each passing day in India, the nightmare of villagers here is indeed a matter of concern.