Bhawanipatna: A disturbing video of brutal public humiliation of an elderly man in Kalahandi district has surfaced on social media, raising serious questions about the reach of law enforcement in rural Odisha.
According to sources, an elderly man was forcibly tonsured, garlanded with slippers and paraded through Badili village, roughly 8 km from the headquarters town of Bhawanipatna, following a a kangaroo court’s order for allegedly misbehaving with a woman on December 7.
The woman, a resid
ent of Ward No. 13 in Chanchara Pada, had gone to fetch water when the alleged misconduct occurred. She informed her family, who then rallied villagers and called an urgent meeting. The gathering quickly turned into an illegal kangaroo court at the village’s Laxmi Puja mandap. In the presence of several local representatives, the self-appointed jury pronounced its verdict – the elderly man would have his head shaved and be paraded wearing a garland of footwear, a traditional form of public shaming.
The punishment was carried out immediately, and the entire episode was recorded on mobile phones, with the footage spreading rapidly across social media platforms.
While Bhawanipatna Sadar police said that they have received no formal complaint about the incident, sources in the village say locals are reluctant to approach the authorities and efforts are reportedly underway to hush up the matter.