Siraha, March 20 -- 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 Hula...