Bhiwani, June 10
The Sheoran Chaurasi mahapanchayat to be held on the issue of an inter-caste marriage at Kharkari village of this district tomorrow has been cancelled following a direction of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Sheoran Chaurasi chief Ram Sarup announced today that the panchayat would consider its future plans only after the court disposed of the petition filed by Mr Surinder Kumar of Kharkari village whose marriage to a Jat girl of Sonepat district had sparked off a row.
Meanwhile, acting on the court’s directive, Deputy Commissioner Vikas Gupta ordered the police to provide protection to the man and his family. Police pickets were posted at his house in the village and here.
The district administration also imposed ban orders under Section 144, Cr PC, in the village to prevent any unlawful assembly.
Although there was palpable tension in Kharkari and adjoining villages till this morning, the arrival of the police and the cancellation of the mahapanchayat brought relief to villagers as it was feared that panchayat activists may clash with members of the man’s community and the police.
Mr Kumar had married a Jat girl hailing from Dhaman village of Sonepat. Both the bride and the groom’s families had approved the marriage. However, trouble arose when members of the Jat community opposed the marriage on the grounds that the groom belonged to a lower caste. The couple were beaten up when they went to Bhiwani to get the marriage registered. The self-styled leaders of the panchayat forcibly took away the girl.
Later, a panchayat at Singani village on May 25 directed the families to dissolve the marriage. The man was asked to return marriage gifts and reimburse the expenses of the marriage to the bride’s family.
To force the man’s family to obey its directive, the panchayat decided to convene a mahapanchayat of Sheoran Chaurasi on June 11.
Mr Kumar then filed a petition in the court which yesterday directed the authorities not to allow the
mahapanchayat.
