Nayagarh: Families of two villagers were at the receiving end of a kangaroo court after the latter held them hostage inside their houses by putting up thorny fences outside.
This happened as the families failed to pay Rs 4 lakh as penalty as imposed by the members of the kangaroo court. The incident has sparked tension in Gudupanga village under Sadar police limits.
What shocked observers is the Sadar police instead of coming to the rescue of the families seem to have bowed to the order of the kangaroo court.
Things have come to such a pass that police also fear to step into the village and take action against the offenders. Fear and tension was palpable in the village as none dared to enter it and resolve the issue.
The two families have been held hostage inside their houses for the last two days while the head of another family has lodged complaints with the Collector, SP and Sadar police station. However, the administration and the police are yet to address his pleas.
The reason behind the kangaroo court’s action, according to sources, was a married woman fell in love with an unmarried youth in the village and eloped with him four months back. The woman’s husband traced her after a grueling search.
The issue was finally resolved in the police station after her husband agreed to keep her as his wife again. However, the issue was far from resolved as the village committee convened a meeting three days back where a kangaroo court comprising some senior villagers imposed Rs 2 lakh penalty on the unmarried youth.
They erected a thorny fence outside the youth’s house two days back after his family members expressed their inability to pay such a large amount as penalty. Similarly, a villager Santosh Parida is another victim of the illegitimate orders of the kangaroo court.
The villagers comprising 16 families ostracized him by denying him use of fire and water after he refused to accept the order of the kangaroo court. He tried to settle the issue and met the villagers. But they refused to listen to his plea till he pays Rs 4 lakh as penalty.
The villagers have even harvested his paddy crop from his farmland and are preparing to take the harvest to the village community centre.
When contacted, Sadar IIC Manorama Mallick admitted to have not visited the village due to fear of backlash from the villagers She called the village committee president to the police station over phone but the latter is yet to turn up.
PNN
