Sundargarh: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Odisha government, seeking a detailed report within two weeks on the alleged ostracisation of a family in Sundargarh district that resulted in an elderly woman’s last rites being delayed due to lack of community support.
The rights panel took suo motu cognisance of media reports that the woman, a resident of Mahuldiha village, had endured social boycott for 12 years and that villagers refused to assist her daughter in performing her last rites after her death.
According to a statement issued by the NHRC Monday, the woman’s last rites were eventually conducted only after intervention by the district administration and support from local NGOs.
Observing that the allegations, if true, raise serious concerns of human rights violations, the commission sought a detailed report from the chief secretary within two weeks.
The NHRC referred to media reports published June 11, which alleged that the woman’s family had been socially ostracised after they failed to pay a penalty imposed by villagers when her daughter had briefly left home with a man belonging to another caste.
The commission expressed concern that the family allegedly continued to face social boycott for over a decade and that the ostracisation persisted even after the woman’s death, affecting the conduct of her final rites.
The NHRC said it would examine the matter further after receiving the report from the Odisha government.