Forty family members shave heads in purification ritual after tribal woman marries outside caste
Rayagada: In a bizarre incident that highlights the social prejudices still prevalent in rural Odisha, forty members of a tribal woman’s family shaved their heads as part of a purification ritual after she married a man from a different caste in Rayagada district.
The incident took place at Baiganaguda village under Gorakhpur panchayat in Rayagada’s Kashipur block. The ritual also involved sacrificing goats, chickens and pigs in front of the local deity, as reported by The New Indian Express on Saturday.
The woman, in her early twenties, was reportedly in a love relationship with a young man of SC community and they decided to get married. However, their families opposed the union as the man was not a tribal. Despite the opposition, the couple tied the knot.
As per the woman's family custom, if a girl marries outside the tribe, the entire family faces the wrath of the village deity. In case of any violation of the tradition, the family and their relatives must undergo a purification ritual to be accepted into the community, the report added.
Accordingly, the woman’s family members and relatives tonsured their heads and arranged a grand feast for villagers after sacrificing goats, pigs and chickens.
Meanwhile, the district administration directed the block development officer (BDO) of Kashipur to probe the incident after a video of the ritual went viral on social media.
“The team members met the couple’s families who explained that they observed the ritual as per their custom without any compulsion,” TNIE quoted BDO Bijay Soe as saying.
He added the incident has been placed before the higher-ups for consideration of government assistance for the inter-caste marriage.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
