10 paraded in Chhattisgarh town for defecating in open

Bhopal: Ten persons, including a couple of minors, were dumped in a cow catcher vehicle and then paraded in a Chhattisgarh town by local civic body officials for defecating in the open.

Officials of Bilashpur Municipal Corporation caught these persons relieving in the open during a drive against open defecation in the district headquarters town of Bilashpur on Wednesday.

The officials then bundled them into a cow catcher van and paraded them around the city to shame them.

These persons were also forced to shout slogans vowing not to defecate in the open in future and also appealing people to use toilets in their homes instead of going out in open to answer nature’s call.

Incidentally, the move was taken by the civic body officials ahead of proposed visit of the officials from Delhi to inspect the city before declaring it open defecation-free.

Opposition Congress in Chhattisgarh has taken strong exception to the manner in which these people were subjected to humiliation at the hands of local civic body officials. “We are going to submit a memorandum to the Bilashpur district collector demanding action against the erring officials on Thursday”, Chhattisgarh Congress spokesperson said.

In Madhya Pradesh, two teachers were placed under suspension in Ashok Nagar district in connection with such incidents. Those suspended were Prakash Prajapati and Mahendra Yadav.

While Prajapati was suspended as his wife was found defecating in the open, Yadav himself was found answering nature’s call in an open ground.