Janjivan Bureau / Patna : A 54-year-old man in Bihar’s Nalanda was allegedly made to spit and lick his own saliva, and was also beaten with slippers for “trespassing” on the house of a fellow villager on Thursday afternoon. The ‘punishment’ was handed over to the man, who is a barber by profession, by the Azadpur village panchayat that falls under Noorsarai police station. Nalanda police on Friday lodged a case against eight persons, including the Azadpur mukhiya, in this regard. No arrest has been made so far in the case.
Police said Mahesh Thakur had allegedly entered the house of one Surendra Yadav on Wednesday evening without knocking. Yadav is reportedly an influential farmer and enjoys a good rapport with fellow villager. He is also said to be the righthand man of village mukhiya Dayanand Manjhi. While Thakur said he had gone to Surendra’s house to ask for tobacco, Surendra told the panchayat that Thakur should have knocked before entering his house and accused him of “trespassing”. Surendra said when Thakur entered his house, there were only women at the house — something he wanted the panchayat to take stern view of.
The panchayat then decided to punish Thakur by allegedly asking him to spit and lick it. It also allegedly ordered for beating Thakur 25 times with a footwear. The barber was beaten five times as the panchayat was apparently satisfied with him licking his spit.
Meanwhile, Thakur, who has no criminal antecedent, kept defending himself till the last moment, police said.
Though the Nalanda administration initially denied the incident, local circle officer and Noorsarai police were asked to inquire into the matter. Nalanda SP SK Podika said: “On prima facie investigation, we found Thakur had been subjected to humilitaion. We have lodged cases against eight people including Surendra Yadav, Dharmendra Yadav and mukhiya Rajendra Manjhi”.
A Noorsarai police station officer added Surendra Yadav could have lodged a trespassing case against Thakur but the panchayat cannot take law in its own hands.
