NHRC notice to Mysore District Collector

New Delhi, Dec 22 (UNI) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Mysore District Collector, seeking a factual report within two weeks on the reported ostracism of a dalit family in the district.

A December 14 newspaper report said the families in Kamanakerehundi village were leading a miserable life as they have been ostracized by upper caste people for the past three years.

The Commission has directed that a copy of the report be sent to the District Collector, Mysore for the factual report.

It said the incident raises a serious issue of human rights violation.

According to the report, the dalit families had refused to obey the orders of the upper caste and as a consequence were denied access to water, shops, telephone, hospitals and sanitation.

''These dalits have not only been barred from entering the village temple but also from walking in the vicinity of upper caste people and their fields,'' it said.

Villagers have been directed not to employ members of the eight families. Twenty-two dalit families in the village work as field labourers, it said.

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