Udaipur : Passing khap diktat against a family and penalizing them for no valid reasons came hard on 14 panchayat members of Nai ( barber) community in Bichhiwada of Dungarpur district who were ordered to be jailed by a local court in Dungarpur district on Wednesday. The accused men had imposed a penalty of 1.51 lakh rupees on the family as a youth in the household had gone to Jaipur with his fiancee on a pleasure trip which the panchayat deemed to be against the social norms.
Narendra Singh, SHO Bichhiwada police station said ” One Kuri Devi Nai had complained against the members of Panchayat that they have been harassing her family for months. Her son was engaged to a girl from Deval village and the couple had gone on a pleasure trip to Jaipur last year in November. The panchayat held a meeting and ordered ‘Hukka Pani’ bandh for the family until a fine of 1.51 Lakh was paid. Later they agreed to settle the fine amount at 1 lakh and Kuri Devi paid 71 thousand to the panchayat.
In January, her husband died and the woman could not arrange the remaining amount. Some weeks later her brother in law too expired. Instead of relaxing the fine, the khap panchayat further ordered penalty of 51 thousand rupees on those families which participated in the rituals or supported the ostracised family in any manner. Due to the panchayat fear, people didn’t go to KuriDevi’s house in time of need and the family felt humiliated and stressed. The panchayat further laid condition that if Kuridevi wanted to be taken back in the community , she has to pay 5 lakh rupees. The woman lodged a case with the police in February and after investigation, the police arrested 14 panch members who were produced before the court which sent them to judicial custody.