Nabarangpur: In a bizarre incident, a villager was made to do sit-up by holding his ears in a public place as a punishment ordered by a former sarpanch of Hatibeda panchayat under Papadahandi block in this district Sunday.
A video of the heinous act was recorded and uploaded by some witnesses, and it went viral on social media platforms like Whatsapp and Facebook.
The sarpanch Ram Majhi claimed the villager had spread a rumour that tarnished his name, and hence the punishment. The victim was Jadu Bhatra of the same village.
Locals said Majhi’s mother-in-law had passed away recently, following which he had invited the villagers to attend the funeral and also an ‘Ekadasha’ ceremony (eleventh –day ritual). Bhatra allegedly spread rumours that whoever attended the ceremony would have to pay Rs 500. Then, he left for Cuttack for some personal work.
Following this, the villagers skipped the ceremony. This infuriated the ex-Sarpanch. Furious, he summoned Bhatra after his return from Cuttack and scolded him for spreading false rumours. Then, he asked him to do a sit-up five times by holding his ears.
Refuting the allegations, Bhatra said, “I was going to attend the funeral, when a villager stopped me and said that I will have to donate Rs 500 if I attended the event. I did not believe him and attended the funeral and later went to Cuttack for some work.”
Majhi explained: “When I asked, Bhatra said he has not said anything to anybody. But when I investigated the matter, the villagers said Bhatra told them about the payment. Then I called him and asked him to do sit-up.
PNN
