Sapaha Dalits allege harassment, put up posters to sell houses

The locals said gram pradhan Issrabul’s husband Maroof and his aides had been committing atrocities on them

Alleging harassment at the hands of their village’s pradhan pati (husband of gram pradhan) and the official inaction, Dalits in Sapaha, located in the Ramkola area of Kushinagar district, said they wanted to abandon their village and even pasted sale posters in front of their houses.

A resident of Sapaha village in Kushinagar district shows the sale poster pasted on her house wall (HT Photo)

The locals said gram pradhan Issrabul’s husband Maroof and his aides had been committing atrocities on them, and they had lodged a police complaint against him too. However, neither the police nor the district administration took any action against him, they alleged.

After receiving information that the villagers wanted to abandon the village, Kushinagar district magistrate S Rajalingam and superintendent of police Dhawal Jaiswal visited the village and held talks with the residents on Tuesday. Assuring them of appropriate action on the issue, the policemen removed the posters from the houses.

Sobhrati Devi, a Sapaha resident, said Maroof had threatened those who had not supported his wife in the panchayat elections, with dire consequences. “A few days ago, Maroof came to the village with his supporters, and told us to remove our hutment for the construction of a water tank,” she added.

As the villagers objected to the proposal, Maroof’s supporters set the huts afire. Sobhrati had to be hospitalised after she was injured.

“I lodged a complaint with the police but no action was taken against the accused. Later, the villagers lodged a complaint with the district administration about the threat issued by the gram pradhan. When no action was taken even then, the villagers decided to sell off their houses,” she added.

Additional district magistrate Devi Dayal Verma said the issue has been resolved after talks with the villagers. “Action will be taken against the husband of the gram pradhan and his supporters for threatening the villagers. The water tank will be constructed at another spot,” he said.