5 families debarred from temple for not paying donation in Balasore

Balasore: A list of names has been written down on the walls of a village temple debarring them from offering prayers in Kalik village in Jaleswar block of Balasore. The villagers have been excluded for reportedly refusing to cough up a hefty donation charged by the village committee.

The incident came to light when members of the five families lodged an FIR at Raibania police station.

As per reports, the village committee recently organised a festival titled ‘Patta Parba’ with funds collected through donation. However, the families denied donating the "high amount" demanded by the committee following which they were denied entry to the village temple.

The complainants alleged that their ‘Puja thalis’, were thrown out when they attempted to offer prayers

"Yesterday my younger brother and his wife had gone to offer prayers in the temple. They were manhandled and assaulted," alleged Bimal Mohapatra, a complainant.

However, village head Prafulla Kumar Sura refused to budge. "All villagers have to abide by the decisions of the village committee. The pandit assigned to perform the rituals of the temple is paid with the donations made by villagers. Since they have not contributed, they can get their personal pandits to perform Puja," said Sura.

"The village committee had written their names on walls of the temple and debarred them from offering worship for not paying donations. The families also alleged that they were assaulted and threatened by some villagers ," informed Laxman Behera Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) of Raibania police station adding that a case has been registered against two youths.