Boycotted Dalit woman commits suicide in Orissa

BHUBANESWAR - A Dalit woman leader, who fought on behalf of two Dalit cooks who were sacked due to upper-caste protests, hanged herself late Friday, an organisation working for Dalit rights said Saturday.

Saraswati Sethy, 28, was a resident of Sanamarichapalli village in the coastal district of Kendrapada, some 150 km from here.

“She was repeatedly harassed by local officials and upper-caste villagers,” Tapan Samal, general secretary of Ambedkar Lohia Vichar Manch, told IANS.

Sethy had protested the removal of two Dalit women cooks from a local school few months ago after some upper-caste students refused to eat meals cooked by them, Samal said.

“She had approached the police, court and human rights commission, but did not get justice,” Samal said, adding that she was boycotted by the villagers due to her protests.

“We have registered a case, and investigations are on,” a police officer said.