By IANS
Karnal (Haryana) : A young couple in Haryana, facing the wrath of their community for marrying in the same lineage, saw no end to their trauma as their 11-day-old baby, snatched away by community leaders, was sent out of their village.
With the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government in the state virtually avoiding intervening – not even directing the Karnal district administration to take action against the allegedly unlawful act of the panchayat or village council – the young couple from Katlaheri village near this town continued to face harassment.
Top district officials, the deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police refused to comment.
Pawan and his wife Kavita, both from the Valmiki community, were ordered by the panchayat to be separated last week and their six-day-old son was snatched from them and given away to another couple for the “offence” of marrying in the same gotra or lineage.
“Being from the same gotra, they are brother and sister. They cannot be husband and wife. We will not allow this,” a panchayat spokesman said.
The panchayat has even imposed a penalty of Rs.65,000 on Pawan for marrying Kavita.
It is now pressurising Pawan to accept Kavita, whom he married at Chandigarh one and a half years ago against the wishes of his family and the village, as his sister. The body wants Kavita to tie a rakhi, a traditional band symbolising the brother-sister bond, to Pawan. They have been ordered to live separately.
The area police, which investigated the matter following pressure from the media and human rights activists, refused to register a case of kidnapping against the panchayat members who took away the infant from his mother.
“The panchayat matters have social sanction. We cannot interfere with the decision of the panchayat,” a deputy superintendent of police said on condition of anonymity.
Pawan said that except for the media and some social activists, he had not received any support from the administration or police.
“I fear that some elements might try to eliminate me and my family. I want my wife and child back. Where was the panchayat when we were married for one and a half years,” he questioned.
Pawan said that he was not in a position to pay the penalty of Rs.65,000. “I am poor and even Rs.1,000 is a heavy amount for me,” he said.
Village residents refused to say anything for the fear of annoying the panchayat. The common view of most villagers was that the panchayat was right.
Pawan Sharma, a lawyer, said: “The entire panchayat should be put behind bars for this inhuman and barbaric act with the parents and their child. Are we living in 21st century, nuclear-power India or in some Taliban territory? Is the Hooda government sleeping? What has the infant done to deserve all this?”