40 Dalit families in an Odisha village have been boycotted after a 15-year-old girl from the community plucked a flower from the backyard of an upper-caste family, according to a report in The Indian Express.
The incident happened over two months ago in Kantio Kateni village of Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, resulting in confrontation between the two communities. The Dalit families have been boycotted for two weeks now.
"We had immediately apologised so that the matter could be resolved, but following the incidents, several meetings were called and they decided to boycott us. Nobody is allowed to talk to us; we are not allowed to participate in any social event of the village," the girl's father told The Indian Express.
The community has been deprived of daily essentials from their nearest PDS shops. "We have to walk 5 km to buy essentials. Villagers have even stopped talking to us," The Indian Express quoted Jyoti Naik, one of the villagers
Following the objection, the community submitted several memorandums to the district administration and to the police station on August 17.
The memorandum read that their children were not allowed to study in the local government school and the teachers who belonged to the community had been asked to get themselves transferred elsewhere.
However, the sarpanch of the village rejected these allegations but agreed that the villagers were asked to not talk to the members of that community, the publication reported.
The Police and the sub-collector said that they would try to resolve the matter by organising a peace meeting.