National NEWS
Tortured by Caste Panchayat, Couple Pleads for Ending Life
April 30, 2010 Visionmp.com news service
Terrorized and traumatized by the diktat of Khap panchayat, a young couple in Rajasthan’s Barmer district has pleaded to the district collector to let them committee suicide, said media reports.
Chatraram and Khama got married at an Arya Samaj temple last month and Khama’s relatives, who wanted her to marry someone else, instantly got a caste Panchayat arranged, reports said.
Panchayat instructed the couple to separate and pay a penalty of 5 lakh rupees, reports said.
The husband and wife, however, said that they would rather die instead of separating, said reports.
Appearing at the Jan Sunwayi (public hearing) in Barmer, the young couple requested the Collector to allow them to end their lives as they were fed up of their caste Panchayat’s draconian diktat, reports said.
“We got married at an Arya Samaj temple. The Panchayat asked us to separate and pay a fine of for Rs 5 lakh as penalty. They also threatened to kill us,” Chatraram was quoted as saying.
According to reports, Chatraram and his wife Khama were engaged in 2001, but ignoring that commitment Khama’s brothers allegedly forced her to marry elsewhere in February this year. Her in-laws allegedly ill-treated her badly but one day she managed to escape.
On 27th March, she got married to Chatrara but their caste group and even their own family are angry.
“We want to lead a happy married life. But, we are under constant pressure from the Panchayat to separate,” Khama was quoted as saying.
Because of the huge caste pressures and their inability to pay the penalty, the couple sought help from the district Collector, reports said.
“I have asked the SP to investigate and we will ask the caste Panchayat not to take any action in this matter,” Gaurav Goyal, Collector, Barmer, was quoted as saying.
An earlier High Court order had declared caste Panchayats as illegal and directed the government to launch criminal proceedings against them, but given the pressures of caste-based politics, they continue to function freely in many parts of Rajasthan.
(Based on media reports)
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