Village Panchayat Forces Man To Play Gong For His Wife’s ‘Wrongdoing’  

Angul (Odisha): A case against 52 persons including the village head was registered after a man was forced to play the gong as a punishment as his wife didn’t vote a particular candidate for the post of naib sarpanch. Dushmanta Sahu on Thursday went through all the villages under the gram panchayat and played the gong saying, "Mu Ghanta Pituchhi kahikina Mo stree bhul karichhi (I’m playing the gong as my wife has committed a mistake by going against the wishes of villagers)".

Sahu’s wife Mallika Sahu voted for ward member Bidyadhar Prusty instead of Rama Sahu and the villagers got enraged over this. They asked the couple either to pay Rs50,000 or bear the punishment of playing the gong by the kangaroo court.

“We were boycotted by the villagers. When I expressed my inability to pay the fine, they asked me to go around the village beating a gong as punishment. I told the villagers that I could pay Rs 5000, but they did not pay heed,” said Sahu.

The matter was reported to the police after some activist noticed Sahu playing the gong. Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan also condemned the act calling it inhumane.