The NHRC has taken “suo motu cognisance of a media report that the family of a woman from a Scheduled Tribe community was subjected to a social boycott by the villagers after her marriage to a man belonging to a Scheduled Caste in Rayagada district of Odisha,” it said.
The Commission has observed that the content of the news report, if true, raises serious issues of violation of the human rights of the victims.
Therefore, it has issued a notice to the chief secretary of the government of Odisha, seeking a detailed report in two weeks.
According to the media report carried on June 21, the members of the family of the woman reportedly succumbed to the diktat of the villagers, and as a part of the ritual, the “heads of 40 members of her family were tonsured”, the statement said. PTI KND KVK KVK