Phulbani: Five days have passed since the gruesome killing of five tribals by security forces near Gumudimaha under Baliguda block in Kandhamal district, but the villagers are yet to come to terms with reality as an eerie silence still prevails in the village.
The incident has left a deep scar in their minds as they choose to remain indoors after evening for fear of getting caught by security forces.
“We have stopped visiting the jungle even during daytime as jawans are threatening us with dire consequences if we dare to go against them. They have started keeping a note of our movements,” the villagers said.
The residents claimed that this had never happened before as the jungle was their source of sustenance since the times of their forefathers.
Demanding withdrawal of security force from the jungle, the villagers claimed that jawans engaged in combing operation misbehave with their women and assault them at slightest pretext.
“The incident would have never taken place had there been a proper road connecting our village to other places,” the residents said, adding they lead miserable lives in the absence of basic facilities like drinking water and electricity.
Political leaders, media persons and rights activist are making a beeline to the village. But the villagers, who are yet to reconcile to the incident, say the wounds in their minds can never get healed with financial assistance provided by the government.
A former naib sarpanch Kukala Digal was shot dead while his wife Gadisi sustained bullet injuries and is under treatment at a hospital. Five out of their six children are living in their house like orphans while one is working as a labourer in Tamil Nadu.
His eldest son Dulara said, “We are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain ourselves in the absence of our lone breadwinner while our mother is admitted to hospital.”
“No amount of money can compensate the loss of our father,” he added.
Chandrika Mallick, a Class V girl, is crying inconsolably after the death of her mother Kimari. She had come home from hostel Friday and had hardly spent some time with her mother before the latter was killed.
Likewise, Dapla Mallick is clueless about how to spend the rest of his life with his three children after losing his wife Midiali Mallik.
According to reports, the incident occurred when over 15 villagers were returning from Baliguda after withdrawing MGNREGS wages from a bank. They were about half a km away from their village when the auto-rickshaw they were travelling in got stuck in mud on the jungle road.
SOG jawans combing the area, mistaking them to be Maoists, fired at them, killing five on the spot. The jawans even did not spare an 18-month-old girl who was in her mother’s arms. Another woman holding her child in her arms was shot dead.
The woman’s body lied till Saturday morning with her child crying inconsolably near it. The scene had a distressing effect on onlookers. PNN