By Sujata Jena

Bhubaneswar: As many as 30 Dalit houses were set on fire in a village under the Puri district of Odisha, eastern India.

According to Bada Khabar, an Odiya news channel, the houses in Brahmapur village were burnt on May 9 as the Dalit families refused to carry dead bodies to the crematoria.

A few months ago, the Dalit families unanimously decided not to pick up dead bodies, incurring the wrath of other villagers. First, the villagers denied the Dalits access to the village pond and tube well. The villagers also didn’t allow them to walk on the village road. No one talked to them, according to the report.

Later, the village ‘Kangaroo court’ decided to chase away all Dalit families from the village.

The 30 Dalit families of 100 people left the village and settled in Nathupur village and stayed under a plastic tent for three months.

According to “Bada Khabar” reporter, Tapan Lenka, the concerned police officers or district administration took no action during the three months. No one visited the families either, he added.

However, on May 10, Brahmagiri Tahasildar reached Nathupur and forced the Dalit families to vacate the place right away.

The Dalits’ refusal to carry their traditionally expected duty of carrying dead bodies was influenced by their school going children.

The children requested them not to perform such jobs any more as they faced ridicule and discrimination from other students.

The Dalit students wanted to study and make different careers.

Social activists say India has seen many such cases. Dalits are attacked and murdered for eating beef, marrying their choice, wearing wrong shoes, going to church, entering temple, doing the job of their ability, giving speeches, singing songs, writing books and so on.

In India, 40,801 atrocities against Dalits were reported in 2016, up from 38,670 in 2015, according to the National Crime Record Bureau data.

The country has enacted many laws and social initiatives to protect and improve the socioeconomic conditions of its lower caste population since the 1950s, but the continuous tradition of marrying in one’s own caste has kept the system rigid in the present day, social activists point out.

The SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, has stringent provisions to tackle attacks on Dalits. However, the Supreme Court of India on March 20, 2018, banned immediate arrest of a person accused of insulting a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe member.