Deepak Malik Dom, a Dalit from ward 5 of Aurahi Rural Municipality in Siraha, was initially excited when he learned that a Mahayagya (grand Hindu sacrificial ritual) would be held in his locality. However, his happiness was short-lived. The event’s organiser, Bajrangi Baba, ordered the demolition of Deepak’s house, claiming that Dalits should neither live nor move around the area near the ritual pavilion (mandap).

Without delay, the rural municipality chairman Shivaji Yadav dispatched a bulldozer to demolish the house. The soil from the site where Deepak’s house once stood was also removed claiming that the land had been rendered impure.

The Dalit family living near the ‘Vishnu Mahayagya’ proposed site along the Hulaki Highway in Aurahi has been displaced ahead of the event, scheduled to start on March 30. The organiser, Bajrangi Baba, along with rural municipality chair Yadav and former ward chair Dilip Yadav, forcibly relocated the family, setting up a temporary shelter for them away from the rest of the community.

Deepak and his wife, Anita, both employed as sanitation workers in the rural municipality, have refrained from filing a police complaint for fear of losing their jobs. Stigmatised as untouchables, Deepak, Anita, and five other family members have been forcibly relocated to a site about 500 metres away from their original home, where a temporary bamboo house has been built for them.

The impoverished Dom family, who had been living in the area for 30 years, was provided with a two-room house five years ago under the ‘Janata Awash Programme,’ coordinated by the rural municipality with the federal government funding. However, the house was demolished using a bulldozer by the rural municipality.

The family has now been relocated to a distant plot in the village, where a two-room thatched house with bamboo walls has been constructed. According to Anita, their house was demolished on the instructions of Bajrangi Baba, with the rural municipality chairman Yadav and former ward chairman Dilip Yadav personally arriving and insisting that the ritual must be held at the original location.

The relocated family has no access to drinking water at their new location, and electricity has yet to be installed, forcing them to rely on candles for light. “We used to live happily in our own home,” Anita said, her voice breaking with emotion. “But now, we have been placed in an isolated area. We had our own well there, but here, there is no water.”

Their son, Arjan, expressed the humiliation they have endured due to their Dalit identity. “We were the only ones whose house was demolished; no other house was affected. What harm could our house have caused to the ritual?” he said. “The bulldozer was used on our house simply because we are Dalits, and the removal of the soil from our land proves they wanted to practice untouchability.”

Arjan said he has been unable to speak out against the injustice for fear of his parents losing their jobs.

Rural Municipality Chairman Yadav admitted to demolishing the house but denied it was due to untouchability. “The municipality plans to establish an agricultural market where their house stood,” he said. “We are working to improve the area; there is no need to create controversy.”

Former ward chairman Dilip defended the relocation of the family, claiming it was justified as they were provided with another house.

However, Kavuli Paswan, a former member of the National Dalit Commission residing in the rural municipality, condemned the caste-based discrimination against the family. He stated that they were subjected to untouchability because of their Dalit status and called for action against those responsible for the incident.