E-Paper
Couple ostracised over intercaste marriage in Karnataka village
The leaders of the Jogi community in the village considered their inter-caste marriage a breach of tradition, expelled the couple and imposed a fine of ₹30,000 on the woman’s parents
A differently abled couple was removed from a village in Chitradurga district over their intercaste marriage, officers familiar with the matter said, adding that a probe has been initiated in the incident.
According to the officials, both the man and the woman have hearing and speech deficiencies. The woman from N Devarahalli married a man, who hailed from Andhra Pradesh, on April 7, 2021 while they were employed at a private company in Bengaluru.
After their marriage, the couple returned to the woman’s hometown. “However, members of the Jogi community [to which the woman belonged] in the village objected to their intercaste marriage, expelled the couple and imposed a fine of ₹30,000 on the woman’s parents,” an official said, requesting anonymity.
Recently, the woman came to her parents’ house with her child. However, Jogi community leaders summoned her parents and directed them to expel their daughter and her husband from the village, the official added.
They warned of banishing the parents as well if they failed to comply with the diktat, the official said.
“Both of them are hearing and speech impaired. The woman took shelter at Santwana Kendra in Challakere for two days. Later, we shifted the woman and the child to another centre in Chitradurga,” district women and children welfare officer Bharathi Banakar told HT.
She said the revenue authorities are looking into the issue and would take suitable action.
“On Saturday, I will visit N Devarahalli and talk to the Jogi community elders,” Challakere tehsildar Rehan Pasha said. “We will deal with it strictly. I will hold talks and convince the community elders about the law. If they stick to their demand, we will file a complaint against them,” Pasha added.
