NHRC takes suo motu cognisance of social boycott of tribal woman’s family in Odisha

New Delhi [India], June 25 (ANI): The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report concerning the social boycott of a Scheduled Tribe (ST) woman’s family in Odisha’s Rayagada district after her marriage to a man belonging to a Scheduled Caste.

Terming the reported incident as a serious human rights violation, the NHRC has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary of the Government of Odisha, seeking a detailed report on the matter within two weeks.

According to the media report, the villagers enforced a “purification ritual” as a condition for the family’s reacceptance into the community.

This ritual allegedly involved the forcible tonsuring of the heads of 40 male family members. The family was also reportedly threatened with an indefinite boycott if they refused to comply with the villagers’ demands.

The Commission’s intervention follows the publication of the media report on June 21. The Commission has observed that the contents of the news report, if true, raise serious issues of violation of the human rights of the victims and deep-rooted discrimination and raise grave concerns about the protection of individual rights and dignity.

According to the media report, in a shocking case of caste discrimination, 40 members of a family in Odisha were forced to shave their heads as part of a ‘purification’ ritual after a woman from the family married a man from a different caste. The incident took place in Baiganguda village, located in the Kashipur block of Rayagada district. The woman, who belongs to a Scheduled Tribe (ST), had recently married a man from a Scheduled Caste (SC) from a nearby village, going against the wishes of the village elders. As a result, her family was socially boycotted and pressured to undergo the ritual in order to be accepted back into the community.