I came across this piece in Khaleej Times, about this village in Eastern India in the state of Jharkhand. Apparently, there hasn’t been any reported crime since the past 50 years in this village called Chakulia. How I wish the whole world would be like this!
Below is the entire piece reproduced from www.khaleejtimes.com
A village with no report of crime for 50 years
(IANS)
9 December 2006
RANCHI — A village in Jharkhand holds the unique record of none of its residents ever filing a police complaint in the last 50 years.
Chakulia is a picturesque village surrounded by hills in the East Singhbhum district, 190km from here. Its 85 families have never reported any crime — for five long decades.
Most families — belonging to the Munda and Bhumiz castes — are extremely poor. Education levels too are low, with not a single graduate in the village.
But peace and harmony prevails in the village.
Rajendra Nath Singh, 60, is the village headman before whom petty disputes are settled. The villagers accept his decision as the last word.
“When I was 10 a villager approached the police to lodge a complaint against two people. That was the last time anyone had complained. Since then no one has gone to the police to resolve any dispute,” Singh said.
“We sit together and decide disputes in a way acceptable to everyone,” he added.
Yogendra Singh, the only teacher in the village, said: “I have never heard of anyone ever approaching policemen. The villagers respect the village headman and everyone accepts his rulings.
“The judgement is always humane and the headman never fines anyone,” he added.
