By IANS
Chandigarh/Karnal (Haryana) : An 11-day-old infant snatched from his parents following a Haryana village council’s order because his parents were reportedly from the same gotra (lineage) was finally restored to his mother in the early hours of Monday even as her brother vowed to kill the whole family.
The child, Ankush, who was handed back to his father Pawan Sunday night after the Haryana police recovered him from a woman in Karnal, was brought to Chandigarh under heavy security.
He was handed over to his mother Kavita by Pawan though her relatives vowed to eliminate the family for breaking clan customs.
“We will go away far from our village. I just wanted my family back,” Pawan said after the reunion. He added that those saying that he and Kavita belonged to the same gotra were wrong.
But Kavita’s brother threatened to kill the family if Kavita lived with Pawan again. “I will kill them and then I and my family will poison ourselves. This incident has brought shame to our family,” said Rajesh, Kavita’s brother.
The panchayat in Katlaheri had ordered last week that Pawan and Kavita should live separately because they were like brother and sister as they belonged to the same gotra.
They snatched the infant from his parents when he was just six days old and handed him over to another villager.
Six people, including members of the panchayat, were booked Sunday on charges of kidnapping and illegal confinement.
The police went into action after Pawan registered his complaint against the panchayat Sunday evening. A police party raided a house in Karnal town to recover the baby.
The Karnal district administration and the police had earlier failed to take any action in the matter.
“Being from the same gotra, they are brother and sister. They cannot be husband and wife. We will not allow this,” a panchayat spokesman had said, justifying the taking away of the child.
The panchayat even imposed a penalty of Rs.65,000 on Pawan for marrying Kavita.
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.
The panchayat also forced Pawan into accepting Kavita – whom he married at Chandigarh one and a half years ago against the wishes of his family and the village – as his sister. They forced Kavita to tie a rakhi, a traditional band symbolising the brother-sister bond, on Pawan.
“The panchayat matters have social sanction. We cannot interfere with the decision of the panchayat,” a deputy superintendent of police said earlier on condition of anonymity.
Pawan said that except for the media and some social activists, he had not received any support earlier from the administration or police.
“I fear that some elements might try to eliminate me and my family. Where was the panchayat when we were married for one and a half years,” he questioned.
Village residents refused to comment for fear of annoying the panchayat. The view of most villagers was that the panchayat was right.