Kangaroo court of Haryana shames India yet again.
By Sreejith Vallikunnu
A Khap Panchayat in Haryana’s Hisar district has ordered a newly married couple to break their legal relationship and start living as siblings.
The bizarre news emanates from Sulkhani village of Haryana, which is known for Khap Panchayat’s brutality.
Khap Panchayat is a kangaroo court found in rural areas, which comprises of a select group of villagers who hold court on local issues.
According to The Times of India, Navin Kumar, 26, of Sangha gotra married Babita, 26, of Bura gotra on December 6, after their families brought them together.
The Khap Panchayat is now saying that the marriage is invalid because the couples’ gotras are that what is known as `bhaichara’, and that they are siblings for all practical purposes.
The panchayat was held at Sulkhani on Wednesday, presided over by Bura Khap president Hari Narayan. The Khap Panchayat warned that if the order are not obeyed, the boy’s family will be banished from the Gotras and the Khap Panchayat.
People from nine villages -eight dominated by Bura gotra and one by Jats of Sangha gotra -took part in the panchayat, the Times reported.
Babita is an assistant manager at a cooperative bank located at Guhla Cheeka town and Navin is an auditor with the Comptroller and Auditor General, and is posted at Guwahati, Assam.
Meanwhile, Navin’s family is going to file a suit against the Khap Panchayath’s order in court.
A similar incident was reported from Haryana’s Jind district, in July. The Khap panchayat of a village near Narwana had asked a married couple to start living as brother and sister, five months after their wedding.
Praveen Kumar, 25, of Koyal village and Poonam, 30, of Tarori village in Karnal had moved the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking protection after the Khap annulled their marriage as they belong to same gotras.