Bhawani Adhikari

Syangja, January 22:

Locals of Kichnas village development committee, Syangja district, thrashed Dhanamaya Thapa and Arunlal Nepali, a Dalit, and kicked them out of the VDC yesterday.

Reason: Opposing the practice of caste-based discrimination. Thapa had taken Nepali, whom she regards as her son, and offered him food. All hell broke loose then.

The locals locked them inside the kitchen and manhandled them. According to Nepali, a group of five locals, including Bir Bahadur Thapa and Tal Bahadur Thapa, had mobilised the locals for the act. “Whom to complain? The people, who claim to be of upper caste, have kicked me out of my house,” said Dhanmaya after arriving at the district headquarters, Syangja bazaar.

Dal Bahadur is accompanying his wife to the district headquarters. Dhanmaya says she will inform the police about the incident on Sunday. “As the law of the land has deemed the practice of untouchability as illegal, so I fed Arunlal, who is like my son,” said Dhanamaya.