In a shocking incident, as many as forty Dalit families in Odisha's Dhenkanal district have been boycotted by the entire village after a minor girl from the community was caught plucking flowers from the backyard of an upper-caste family.
According to The Indian Express, the incident happened over two months ago in Dhenkanal's Kantio Kateni village which led to a confrontation between the two communities. Reportedly, the Dalit families have been facing the boycott for over two weeks now. It has also been alleged that public distribution system (PDS) dealer and the owner of the local provision store stopped selling to the local community forcing them to cover a long distance on foot for buying essentials.
The community members have also alleged that they have been warned against taking out any procession for weddings or funerals on the village road. "A diktat has been issued that our community's children cannot study in the local government school. Even teachers who belong to our community have been asked to get themselves transferred elsewhere on their own," read the memorandum submitted by the families to the district administration and the respective police station on August 17.
"We had immediately apologised so that the matter could be resolved, but following the incidents, several meetings were called and they decided to boycott us. Nobody is allowed to talk to us; we are not allowed to participate in any social event of the village," said the girl's father.
However, the sarpanch of the village rejected these allegations but agreed that the villagers were asked to not talk to the members of that community, according to the publication. Superintendent of Police (Dhenkanal) Anupama James told India Today, "We have initiated an inquiry on the issue. We have called some villagers to the police station to review the situation and try to resolve the matter."
Source: The Logical Indian0 COMMENTS
