Bhopal: A village in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has forced 55-year-old woman to beg for a week as penance for accidentally causing the death of a calf.
On August 31, Kamlesh, a resident of Matadin village in Bhind district, was trying to pull away a calf from its mother when the rope got entangled in its neck and strangled the animal.
The local panchayat (village council) then ordered that she spend the week begging for money in nearby villages. Else, they said she would face social boycott for life. “They boycotted her for 7 days… She was not allowed to enter the village even,” said her son Anil Shrivas.
The money she received would go toward financing a trip to the Ganges, where she was to take a dip as part of the penance, the village panchayat had ruled.
Nobody, the woman’s son said, had objected to the punishment for fear. His mother, he said, stayed with a relative at a nearby village and begged for money everyday until she fell sick and admitted in a hospital. She was discharged on September 3, ndtv.com reported.
But panchayat chief Shambu Shrivas denied issuing any diktat. “She herself called the panchayat members and told them that she had decided to do penance,” he said.
No police case has been filed. The police have said they would take action once they receive the complaint.
“We have not received a complaint. If any complaint comes, we will definitely take action,” said Anil Singh Kushwaha, an officer of the local police.
In July, an upper caste villager from a villager in Tikramgarh district was ordered to take a dip in Ganga – the traditional penance in the area – after he allegedly killed a cow in a fit of rage. The cow, which belonged to a lower caste man, used to raid his fields. Reports said Manoj Tiwari, 40, was later asked to organize a feast for the village as well.