KHAMMAM: Five families belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) community had to face social boycott for nearly one month by people of their own community for allegedly posting Whatsapp messages opposing the decision of the community elders. Local police and district administration swung into action and made the leaders tender an apology to the victims and lift the boycott. The incident took place in Shanti Nagar of Kallur mandal. Of the five victims, four have completed their post-graduation while one is a government teacher.
The community elders decided to organise various events on the eve of Dasara and collected funds from prominent people and later felicitated them on the festival day. The five victims, who run a Whatsapp group, disagreed and posted some messages in the group. “The five felt that the organisers should seek funds from prominent people of their own community and felicitate their own people,’’ police said.
As the circulation of Whatsapp message came to the notice of the elders, they imposed social boycott on the families of G Sridhar, K Venkateswarlu, K Srinivas Rao, K Suresh and V Praveen Kumar. This happened on October 1 and the families of the five were not supposed to speak to any others or attend any functions.
However, they reportedly attended a marriage and a funeral where they were subjected to humiliation. As the humiliation continued, they filed a complained on Monday.The same day, Kallur police asked the leaders to apologise. The victims insisted that they apologise at the village where they were subjected to humiliation.