SC man forced to rub nose in spit in Odisha: NHRC seeks report

BHUBANESWAR/KENDRAPADA: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday sought a report from Odisha on the incident of a Scheduled Caste (SC) man allegedly being forced to rub his nose on his spit in Kendrapada district recently.
Taking suo-motu cognizance of media reports of the incident, the Commission has issued notice to chief secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra calling for a report within six weeks.The rights watchdog sought status of investigation of the case and the status of statutory relief paid to the victims, a statement issued by the NHRC said.
Examining the contents of the news report, the commission has observed that the issues raised are of a very serious nature and right to dignity of the victims have been grossly violated, the rights panel statement said.
As reported in TOI earlier, the man was allegedly humiliated in presence of Tikhiri gram panchayat sarpanch Chameli Ojha and others for not paying Rs 500 as donation for renovation of the village temple . The dalit Gurucharan Mallick reportedly said that he had already donated an amount, which made the sarpanch and others angry. They further allegedly abused him and his wife in front of locals.
An FIR has been registered under sections 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly), 342 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the IPC and relevant sections of Schedule Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act , 1989 on the alleged charge of humiliating the Dalit man on his caste lines and forcing him to rub his nose on his own spit in the village meeting for refusing to give money for the renovation of the village temple.
When contacted P.K. Kanungo, the inspector in-charge (IIC) of Marsaghai police station said ‘ Police are investigating the case. Nobody has been arrested in this case till date”.