A dalit family of Tantagarh village, under Rairakhol subdivision of Sambalpur, has been allegedly driven away by upper caste people.
The victim, Kandarpa Sethi said, his wife and three children were attacked by the upper caste people at their home on 7th of August under Rairakhol police station area . Since then, they are spending their days under the open sky. On Friday, Sethi met the Sambalpur collector and lodged a complaint.
“Since I constructed a house on a government plot, some upper caste people of the village asked me to vacate the land. But when I refused, they forcefully drove me out of my village and destroyed my house. I registered a case with local police, but no action was taken,” Sethi said on Friday. He added that the same group of people also threatened to kill every one of his family if they returned to the village in future.
Sambalpur collector Balawant Singh said, “I have asked the Tahasildar to do a spot inquiry. I will initiate action against the accused once I get the report. We will support the family as per government guidelines. Police have been directed to provide security to the family.”
Rairakhol police have registered a case against eight villagers, namely Judhistir Swain, Chintamani Sahu, Balaram Sahu, Ramesh Pradhan, Arjun Pradhan, Murali Hota, Krushna Hota and Govind Hota based on Sethi’s complaint. “All the accused are absconding,” SDPO (Rairakhol) A Routray said.
