Bantala: In case of blatant departure in humanity values, an elderly woman’s body, who was ostracised in a kangaroo court in the village, was left to rot for at least three hours after none of the neighbours or any villagers came forward to perform the last rites.
Taking sympathy, members of Biju Yuva Vahini came to the family’s rescue and performed the last rites. The incident has been reported from Mundadhipa village under this police limits in Angul district Friday morning.
Sources said Sankarshan Sahoo was the secretary of village committee before 2015. During his stint as the secretary, an amount of Rs 6,000 was deposited in his account by a high voltage electricity tower company.
Besides Sankarshan, seven other villagers also received a deposit of an unknown amount in their respective accounts. This apart, he took loans of Rs 13,000 from the village treasury in two phases. As he used the money in the marriage of his daughter, he was not able to repay a total amount of Rs 19,000.
However, he failed to repay the amount as his financial condition was not so good. Angered villagers called for a village court and socially boycotted Shankarshan and his family since last four years.
Since then, the family was not allowed to use any public facilities including electricity, drinking water facilities and attend functions. No one was allowed to speak to the family. The village committee also did not allow people to provide Sankarshan’s family with work.
Adding to their trouble, Sankarshan’s mother Bachan Sahoo (70) died Friday morning. Although the villagers were aware of the incident, they did not turn up to shoulder the body to crematorium ground even as Sankarshan pleaded with them.
Later, from some source Bantala Naib Sarpanch Alibha Sahoo came to know about Bachan’s body lying for three hours. Later Yuva BJD president Dinesh Pradhan, social worker and president of Hidisingh Krushak Mahasangh Dinesh Dehury, Beda Shasan Biju Yuva Bahini president Ganeswar Sahoo, Basala Yuva Vahini secretary Soumya Ranjan sahoo reached Sankarshan’s house. Following all rituals, they took the body to Sankarshan’s ancestral land and performed the last rites.
PNN
