LOHARHEDI (JHAJJAR), SEPT 15: Close on the heels of the Jaundi panchayat deciding to ex-communicate a couple from the village for their marriage defying social traditions, another panchayat in the district has come out with a shocking judgment.On Wednesday evening, the panchayat of the Loharhedi village ordered that an upper-caste youth, Ravinder, be tonsured and paraded through the village with a garland of shoes around his neck. Ravinder had secretly married a Dalit girl of the village and reportedly assured her parents of a formal marriage after getting his family's consent.The panchayat earlier ordered that the girl also be tonsured, but withdrew the decision at her family's request. Before the punishment could be meted, Ravinder managed to escape with his friend who was waiting on his scooter near the panchayat venue.The panchayat has handed over the girl to her parents, and she has been sent to the place of a relative outside the village. Meanwhile, the villagers have launched a hunt for Ravinder.Jhajjar Superintendent of Police Akil Mohammad told The Indian Express that the incident had not been reported to the police. However, since the matter had come to his notice, he said he had asked the Bahadurgarm SHO to conduct an inquiry and keep a watch on the situation to avoid any untoward incident and provide protection to the girl and her family.The boy and the girl are bth students of the University College, Rohtak, where they fell in love. Earlier, Ravinder used to take the girl to his house in the village, which was objected to by the villagers. The boy's parents had been warned.The villagers are reported to have surrounded the house when they came to know that the girl was staying with Ravinder in his house. The girl is believed to have tried to escape by scaling the wall but was caught by the villagers. Ravinder was also caught. Later, the girl was handed over to her parents with directions to produce her before the panchayat.``We have been subjected to this humiliation because we are Dalits'' says Munni Devi, the girl's mother. Speaking to The Indian Express, Munni Devi and the girl's uncle, Haridal, said: ``We have requested the village elders to kill the girl if she has committed a sin but not humiliate her by summoning her before the panchayat, but they did not bother.'' The mother said a few months ago, when an upper-caste girl eloped with a backward-class boy, the panchayat did not summon the girl.In May this year, a Dalit youth of the village eloped with an upper-caste girl. The boy was arrested in Nadi district and a case of kidnapping registered against him. The girl was married off to some other youth of her caste.Ram Mehar, president of Haryana Guru Ravidas Samaj Mahasabha, has expressed serious concern over the incident and demanded protection for the girl's family.
