Family ostracized over minor daughter's impregnation by headmaster

Koraput: Raped and impregnated by school headmaster, suffering has become harder for the Class IX girl and her family residing at Khamara village in the tribal dominated Koraput district  after they were ostracised from their fold.

It has been fortnight since the family has been socially boycotted from all sorts of social participation for the deed that befell on the girl, the villagers call as 'an act of untouchability' even for no fault of theirs.

If that was not enough, the family is only allowed their share of drinking water from well after the entire village uses.

But the misery is more that what could meet the eye as the family has to bear everyone's comments, abuses and still bear all this harassment with crestfallen heads.

Narrating their saddening ordeal, the girl’s father says “No one even cares to support us, even our relatives and acquaintances have also stopped meeting and participate with us,”

On the other hand, the locals said that the banishment is all part of the rule that has been handed over to them for generations now. “Presently the girl is pregnant by four months and they will stay exiled until she sees out her nine months. Until then we cannot eat or accept anything from them but we cannot donate to them. It’s all part of our community. Neither anyone will eat in their house nor touch them,” Sarpanch of  Balda GP, Deba Sisa said.

Meanwhile, the administration has assured that very soon steps will be taken to intervene into the matter. “We have conducted a probe and very soon the findings will be submitted to the perusal of the collector after which necessary steps will be taken,” District Welfare Officer, Jagannath Soren said.

Notably, the girl, a student of Class IX of Government Girls High School at Balda was impregnated by the school headmaster who coerced her to have physical relationship on pretext of marriage.

After the matter came to light the headmaster was arrested on charges of rape and he is presently cooling his heels in jail.