Eight families in Olapur village of Odisha’s Ganjam district have been suffering social ostracism for over three years now.
Superstitious villagers had attacked the families in 2015 and tortured eight members over a suspicion that they were practising sorcery. Since then, the families have been awaiting help from the administration as well as the National Human Rights Commission, which had directed the State government to compensate them for the loss and humiliation suffered by them.
According to one of the victims, Amar Behera, in May this year the NHRC had directed the Odisha government to provide ₹7.5 lakh compensation to them. The money was to be paid within six weeks, but they have not received it even after three months.
Plea to District Collector
On Monday, seven of these victims, including a woman, met the Ganjam District Collector during his monthly grievance hearing in Berhampur. They narrated their plight and handed over a memorandum to the officer.
These victims said their front teeth were uprooted by the assailants in 2015 and they were compelled to consume human excreta. At that time, the administration had promised to provide them financial support to get artificial teeth, but even that has not been done so far.
“Due to lack of financial assistance we have not been able to get artificial teeth in place of the uprooted ones,” said Subash Behera, another victim. He added that due to the opposition of the villagers who are ostracising them, his marriage plans failed even after printing of invitation cards.
The victims demanded that the administration and the police should intervene so that they can lead a normal life at Olapur. It was decided that the Chikiti tehsildar and police officers will initiate measures to solve problems of these eight families. Berhampur sub-collector Siddharth Shankar Swain told newsmen that the government has not yet allotted funds for payment of compensation as directed by the NHRC. According to him, the victims will surely get the compensation in the near future.
Published - August 29, 2018 02:01 am IST
