Post News Network
Nayagarh, Dec 11: As many as 30 families of Hinjligadia village of Nadial panchayat under local police limits have been ostracised as a result of differences between political parties, the families alleged at a press conference here Friday.
The villagers said they are facing a having a harrowing time for over a year as the police and administration have also turned a blind eye towards the agony inflicted upon them.
The 30 families have been subjected to a total social boycott ever since the general elections held in 2014. Workers of a particular political party asked them to cast their votes in support of their party. However, the families told the party activists that they would vote for the party that they wanted.
This infuriated the activists, who later persuaded the rest of the village to impose a social boycott on these families. As a result, the 30 families have been restricted from using the village’s water supply, cremation ground and other public utilities. Even services of barbers and priests of the village have become out of bounds for them, they alleged.
Two members of the families died in the last year but the villagers refused to allow the families access to the cremation ground.
Sanatan Barad, a member belonging to one of these 30 families died last year. The family said they had to take the body to Swargadwar in Puri for conducting the last rites as they were not allowed to use the village cremation ground. Other rituals were performed at Kumbharia Gaon, a nearby village, the deceased’s daughter-in-law Sita Barad said.
Another man called Lochan Barad died November 16 this year. He too was taken to Swargadwar for cremation and other funeral rituals were conducted in Nayagarh, his wife Kuni Barad said.
The ostracised villagers are forced to go to another village to buy provisions as the grocery shops in Hinjiligadia village shoo them away.
Shockingly, the ostracised families are even being prevented from harvesting paddy crops from their own farms. The woes of the families do not end here. Pitabas Maharana of the village has gone into hiding for the last 10 days after he was threatened with his life. Even his five-year-old son has been asked not to attend Anganwadi classes. “We are in a state of panic,” Pitabas’s wife Mini said.
Though they approached the collector and superintendent of police on several occasions in the past over the issue, it didn’t yield any result, the families said. They also lodged a written complaint with the police December 2, they added. Police and the administration are choosing to remain silent spectators due to political duress, the families alleged.
When contacted, district collector Hemant Kumar Padhi said the social boycott is condemnable and added that the families would be provided security and legal help in this matter.
