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Dalit family ostracised from village for 'practicing black magic' |
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Written by Kumar Shakti Shekhar
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Monday, 07 September 2009 |
 Bhopal:- A Dalit family in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh has been ostracised from a village on the allegations of indulging in black magic. Worse, the police are yet to take any concrete action in the matter.
Bhupati Das, a Dalit, lived in village Sangi in Multai tehsil of Betul district alongwith his wife and four children. On August 22 afternoon, while Das was away, the upper caste villagers thronged his house and started abusing his wife. Village sarpanch Devrao Suryavanshi and deputy sarpanch Punjab Ghodki allegedly led the mob.
The villagers alleged that Bhupati Das was a sorcerer and that he had used black magic to stop the clouds from raining. Holding Das responsible for the drought-like conditions in the area, the villagers razed his house, destroyed the belongings and burnt all the clothes.
Das's wife, three grown-up daughters and a son fled the village immediately. Being a Kabirpanthi, Das is a non-conformist for thevillagers. When the incident took place, he was in a neighbouring village propagating his beliefs. His family joined him and narrated the whole incident. Das reached the Multai police station the same day and reported the incident.
On reaching his house in the night, he found that the villagers had cleaned the debris and placed stones all around and smeared them with vermillion. The family told him how the villagers had threatened to harm the children if they went to school. Gauging the violent mood of the villagers, Das reached another village, Chichanda, 40 km away from his house and took shelter in a friend's place. Fearing for theirlives, Das has stopped the children from going to school since then.
With no action having been initiated by the Multai police, Das reached Betul to meet Superintendent of Police (SP) RL Prajapati on August 29.
Not finding him in the office, Das filed a complaint and left. Talking to The Pioneer, Das said, “We are feeling very unsafe. We need urgent help from the police.”
However the SP, when asked about the action he has taken in the matter, said, “I am not aware of the incident. I will get it inquired into after getting the details.”
The police are taking their own time to inquire into the incident unmindful of the agony of the Das family which continues to live in fear and an unsettled life.
(Source: The Pioneer, September 7, 2009, http://www.dailypioneer.com/200915/Dalit-family-ostracised-from-village-for-%E2%80%98practicing-black-magic%E2%80%99.html ) |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 08 September 2009 )
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