Panchayat addresses inter-caste marriage dispute, families demand justice for arrested shopkeepers

A panchayat was held at Dhani Bhojraj village in Fatehabad district on Wednesday to resolve the controversy arising from an inter-caste marriage.

Advertisement

The issue escalated after rumours that the groom’s family, belonging to a Scheduled Caste, had been socially boycotted. However, village elders clarified that no official boycott was declared and that the confusion was caused by false information spread by certain individuals.

The matter took a serious turn when three shopkeepers were arrested for allegedly refusing to sell goods to the groom’s family. Their families, along with representatives of the local trade association, approached Superintendent of Police (SP) Aastha Modi, demanding justice, stating that the shopkeepers were innocent. They argued that the shopkeepers were misled by false information and were unfairly jailed. The SP assured them of a fair and impartial investigation.

Amid the ongoing tension, sources said a tragic incident had occurred. Rohtash Kumar, one of the arrested shopkeepers, was visited in Hisar jail by his wife, Priya Devi. Upon seeing her husband behind bars, she collapsed and had to be hospitalised. When her father, 70-year-old Madan Lal Bansal, received this news, he suffered a heart attack and passed away. The incident further fuelled anger among villagers, who called for immediate action against those responsible for these events.

The families of the arrested shopkeepers accused village watchman Ramesh Kumar of instructing them not to sell goods to the groom’s family for threatening them with a Rs 21,000 fine and expulsion from the village. However, while the police briefly detained Ramesh Kumar, he was later released, while the shopkeepers remained in jail.

During the panchayat, village elders emphasised that Dhani Bhojraj had always been a place of unity among different communities. They condemned the rumors that had disrupted peace and urged villagers to maintain harmony. They also stressed that the matter should be resolved amicably without creating further divisions.

The meeting was attended by former sarpanch Sadhuram, Gopal Godara, Gulab Singh, Satbir Numberdar, Panch Rohtash Kumar, Ajmer Singh, Satbir Dhanak, Pratap Singh, Rajkumar, Rajender Singh, Baljeet Singh, Krishna Kumar, and many other prominent individuals from Dhani Bhojraj.

Meanwhile, police officials confirmed that the case was being investigated by the DSP of Fatehabad.

Fatehabad’s SP Aastha Modi said three shopkeepers had been arrested in this case. She mentioned that the situation in the village was peaceful, and the police were deployed there. She also said that the investigation was in progress and no one would be treated unfairly.