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Jhajjar (Haryana): Tension gripped parts of this Haryana district Thursday after a group of people marched towards a village to evict a family whose son had married a girl from the same clan in breach of social custom.
Members of the Kadyan khap panchayat (caste council) walked towards Dharana village here in a bid to oust the Gehlout family.
District police chief Saurabh Singh told IANS: “Around 200-250 people started walking from Dubaldhan village towards Dharana. They wanted to execute the order of their khap panchayat to oust the family from the village.”
He said the police force deployed on the border of the village did not allow them to enter Dharana. So the villagers erected a tent on the border of Chimni and Dharana village and squatted there.
Later, most people returned, leaving only 30-40 at the spot.
The Gehlout family was asked to leave Dhrana village after Ravinder Singh Gehlout, 24, married a 20-year-old girl from the Kadiyan clan.
One of the khap councils, notorious for their vicious campaign against couples getting married within the same clan, accused him of violating a custom of no-marriage between the sects of Gehlawat and Kadiyan as they have a “brotherhood” akin to consanguinity.
Due to mounting pressure from the khap, Ravinder tried to commit suicide. His family left for a relative’s house in anther village but returned amid security cover.
“The boy’s family is safe. They are cooperating with the police. We will not allow anyone to take the law into his hand,” said Singh.
Naseeb Singh, a relative of the family, told IANS: “Why should we leave our village? We have full faith in India’s judiciary and we are determined to fight for justice.”