Bihar man made to lick his spit

Man from lower caste punished for entering village chief’s home without knocking door

An elderly villager from a lower caste was beaten up with slippers and made to lick his own spit after he entered the house of a village court chief in Bihar, prompting a police inquiry.

The incident took place in Noorsarai block of Nalanad district on Thursday evening while the country was busy celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights. Ironically, Nalanda happens to be the home district of minister Nitish Kumar.

Reports quoting police sources said the victim Mahesh Thakur who hails from the barber community had entered the house of local sarpanch Surendra Yadav without knocking the door which angered the latter. A ‘sarpanch’ is an elected head of a village-level statutory institution of local self-government called village council and enjoys limited judicial power.

Subsequently, a local village court was held over the issue in the evening. The court passed an order for the intruder to be beaten with slippers, who was also told to spit on the ground and then lick it in the presence of villagers.

Both the orders were complied chief with very soon. Reports said once the villagers had beat up the elderly man with slippers, he spit on the ground and licked it without offering any resistance fearing severe punishment by the village court chief. The victim also apologised for his conduct and promised not to repeat it in future after which he was let off.

He said the administration had taken the matter very seriously and no one would be spared.

The state government also expressed shock over the incident. “I totally condemn the act and such things won’t be tolerated. We will initiate stringent action against the culprits,” a senior Bihar minister Nand Kishore Yadav said.