Upper Castes of a village in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh have reportedly thrown out Dalits for raising voice against alleged discrimination. After being thrown out of their village and denied every opportunity to earn their livelihood, a group of Dalits has now come to Hyderabad.

The reason for such a harsh punishment was the reported gumption of a Dalit to argue with an upper caste farmer. And even complain to the police when subsequently 80 Dalit families were attacked. "We have been warned by them against entering the main village or any of their farmlands. They have announced a fine of Rs 5000 and threatened to beat us five times with footwear," said Venkatesh, a Dalit.

It seems like the throwback to a bygone era happened in Kothapally village in Chief Minister YSR Rajasekhar Reddy's native district. "I am not aware of it. Give me the details and I will definitely get it examined," said Rajashekhar Reddy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister.

The Dalits say the social boycott has been on for almost a month and they are not allowed to work in their own village nor in neighbouring villages. "How many days should we tolerate being humiliated and beaten in our own village? I have almost grown old and my children will slowly become like me. Enough is enough, we live or we die. This has to come to an end," said Terasamma, a Dalit.

"Social Boycott is an inhuman practice because in our civil society there is no practice like that. In olden days there was caste system, untouchability but this is enough evidence that the caste mindset is prevailing in the present society too," said Vinay Kumar, President, Dalit Bahujan Front.

Dalits not being allowed into temples and not being treated as equals is not uncommon in several villages of Andhra Pradesh. But with Dalit welfare groups getting into the act, at least in Kothapally, hopefully, the Dalits will be allowed to live and let live.