Karnataka: Ostracised family reunited with villagers after 10 years

KOLAR:  Acting on the report, ‘Ostracised 10 yrs ago... still no hope for this family’, published in The New Indian Express on Sunday (Aug. 21, 2022), the district administration swung into action and brokered peace between the family and the village head.

A family belonging to the Halakki Vokkaliga community was ostracised by the Harwada village head, Anand Siddegouda, who also belongs to the same community, for not inviting him to a wedding. The social boycott of the family of Bunt Venku Gouda has now ended with the Tahsildar of Ankola mediating between the two and ensuring that the villagers welcome them back into their community.  

The Tahsildar, on directions from Mullai Muhilan, DC, Uttara Kannada, called Siddegouda and other villagers and the family members of Venku Bunt Gouda, which was ostracised in February 2012. “The Tahsildar has strictly told the villagers to end the boycott immediately. It has been resolved now,” Muhilan said.

Muhilan said that he will ensure that such a thing does not occur in future and that he has instructed local officials and the Assistant Commissioner to make frequent visits to the village. According to the Gouda family, they were not allowed to buy groceries and were even denied access to drinking water. Venku Gouda died in 2014, but the boycott continued.