Angul(Odisha): A day after a man was forced to play the gong as part of a punishment by a kangaroo court was reported in media, the Odisha police on Friday lodged a case against 52 persons, including the village head.
In a verdict by a kangaroo court at Gudiapada village in Odisha’s Angul district, a ward member’s husband was on Thursday forced to walk around the village playing a gong as part of the punishment. The reason for this bizarre punishment is because his wife’s decision to cast her vote for a candidate of her choice, that went against the villagers diktat to vote for another nominee. The panchayat polls were held recently.
According to reports, ward member Mallika Sahoo did not vote for the candidate chosen by the villagers. Hence, her husband, Dushmant Sahoo, was asked to pay a Rs 50,000 fine or play the gong while walking through all the villages under the gram panchayat. He was also asked to announce “Mu Ghanta Pituchhi kahikina Mo stree bhul karichhi (I’m playing the gong as my wife has committed a mistake by going against the wishes of villagers)”.
Since he couldn’t afford to pay the fine he was forced to play the gong throughout the villages. Some social workers who noticed the Dushmant playing the gong and weeping bitterly in humiliation, informed the local police about the matter.
Subsequently, the police registered a case against 52 persons after finding prima facie evidence about the humiliating verdict.
Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan criticised the incident expressed shock over such inhuman act.
