Caste panchayat boycotts family over dowry complaint

Sheo police in Barmer have lodged a case of social boycott of a family by caste panchayat. The victim alleged that they have approached the police with the dowry harassment complaint, after which the caste panchayat have passed the diktat of social boycott of the whole family

Sheo police in Barmer have lodged a case of social boycott of a family by caste panchayat. The victim alleged that they have approached the police with the dowry harassment complaint, after which the caste panchayat have passed the diktat of social boycott of the whole family. The victim alleged that since then, they have been living in complete isolation.

The members of a family in Rajasthan’s Barmer who have been facing a social boycott by fellow villagers following a diktat passed against them by a caste panchayat. (HT Photo.)

Victim Amni (24) a resident of Kayam Ki Basti under Sheo police station, in a memorandum, said that her sister-in-law’s daughter, Jamali, was married to Amardin about ten months ago. Soon after the marriage, Jamali’s in-laws started harassing the girl for dowry.

According to the complainant, initially, they tried to explain to the family but when they threatened to kill Jamali, they lodged a case against the her in-laws at Sheo police station. The complainant also alleged that Sheo police has not taken any action in their case.

She alleged that their children are also being disallowed to go to school. According to her, due to this caste dictate, they are living in a very pathetic situation. She also met with higher officials of Barmer police and sought justice.

However, Manaram Garg, station house office at Sheo police station, said that neither Jamali nor her any relatives have lodged any dowry case at Sheo police station. He said that they have received complaints from both parties about a dispute after which they have warned them. He, however, accept that they also got a complaint about the caste dictate but did not find anything on investigation.