Odisha village penalises couple for marrying outside community; cops begin probe
Maheswar Baske, a tribal of Nialijharan village in Keonjhar district married a girl of another community six months ago. Following protests by villagers, the couple left their home but were forced to return owing to the Covid-induced lockdown
A village in Odisha has ostracised a couple and imposed a penalty of ₹25 lakh on them for marrying outside their respective communities.
Representational Image. (File photo)
Maheswar Baske, a tribal of Nialijharan village in Keonjhar district married a girl of another community six months ago. Following protests by villagers, the couple left their home but were forced to return owing to the Covid-induced lockdown. On their return, Baske was allegedly ostracised and a gram sabha meeting imposed a fine of ₹25.6 lakh on him.
Baske said the couple, along with his old mother, are now living at his uncle’s home outside the village. “We have been barred from sharing water with village folks and nobody from Nialijharan is allowed to help us till we pay the fine. We are forced to live outside the village and I cannot pay the fine,” he said.
Ghasipura police station inspector Manoranjan Bisi said he is investigating the case after a court in Anandpur directed for probe.
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.
