In another incident of people facing the dire consequences of ostracisation in Boudh district of Odisha, a resident of the Krushnapalli village, identified as Chatru Banka, had no option but to carry the body of his sister-in-law on a bicycle and was unable to carry out a decent funeral on August 1. None of his relatives and fellow villagers came out to help him as he was allegedly ‘ostracised’ by the villagers.
The resident of Krushnapalli village, which falls under Kantamala block, had admitted his wife and sister-in-law in a hospital, on the complaint of suffering from severe diarrhoea. On July 1, his sister-in-law, Pancha Mahakud, 42, breath her last in the hospital and her body was brought back to the village in an ambulance. According to sources, Pancha was unmarried and was living in the house of brother-in-law.
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Not one villager of Krushnapalli came forward to help Banka in making arrangements for the woman’s funeral. Banka then tied her body to his bicycle and took it to the cremation ground without the help of onlookers.
Abakash Sahu, a Zilla Parishad member, asserted that Banka was facing an undeclared social ostracisation by the villagers. “At times, for various reasons, locals in Boudh district do not take part in marriages and funerals of some persons,” he said.
Nabakishor Meher, a local, reported to The Hindu that Banka had snapped ties with his family members in the village because of a property dispute. He had allegedly married outside his caste and was facing the ire of fellow villagers as he did not give them a feast.
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