A family from Maluda village under Krushnaprasad block in Puri district staged a dharna in front of the Puri Collector’s office alleging that that they have been ostracised by the villagers since the last one year.
In a bid to seek justice against the harsh treatment meted out by the villagers, the helpless members of the family, who ran out of options, decided to stage the protest outside the Collector’s office, said Roshni Padhy, a member of the protesting family.
As per the allegation by Roshni, her father Tapan Mohan Patnaik is a schizophrenia patient and suffering from a mental disorder which has affected his ability to think, feel and behave clearly.
“Taking advantage of the helplessness of my father and the family members, our uncle, his son along with the villagers took control of our property using fraudulent means,” alleged Roshni.
“When we raised our voice against the injustice, our uncle and the villagers hatched a conspiracy and ostracised us from the village,” she said.
The family members said they were going through lots of hardships as fellow villagers have not been co-operating with them since the last one year.
“We have informed about our ordeal to the local administration umpteen times and sought their help. But our requests fell on deaf ears. We have no option left but stage a dharna in front of the Collector’s office to draw the attention of the district administration about our plight,” said Roshani.
Meanwhile, Puri Collector Samarth Verma said an inquiry has been ordered into the incident.
“I have asked the Sub-Collector and local Tehsildar to visit the village and submit a report on the incident immediately. If the family is ostracised, necessary actions will be taken against the culprits,” assured Verma.