BHOPAL: While publicly denouncing love marriages, a village in Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam district, has reportedly decided to sever ties with families whose youths eloped and married for love.
At a recent meeting in Panchewa village of Piploda tehsil, reportedly attended by 400–450 residents including panchayat members, it was decided to boycott all families associating with youths who eloped for love marriages. The same action will apply to anyone providing shelter to love-married couples from other areas.
The video of the recent meeting in the village, which has gone viral, shows a young man reading from a register, the decisions arrived at the meeting and also naming at least three families with whom entire village is expected to break all ties with immediate effect, over their young members, particularly girls, eloping for marrying their love.
“The meeting has decided that the entire village will totally boycott families, whose children (young girls and boys) eloped to marry by choice. Such families will be excluded from social and family events and happenings in the village, they will also be denied employment opportunities. Those who offer them work too would face a similar boycott,” the youngster named Arun could be seen reading the meeting’s decisions from a register in the viral video.
“No one will supply milk or other essentials and goods to such families and refuse to lease agricultural land to them. Services of priests, barbers and other traditional service providers won’t be available to such families,” the youth could be seen proclaiming in the video.
Shockingly, it is not just the families whose youths have married their love that will face boycott by the entire village, but those families helping or associating with them too will face similar ostracisation.
“The meeting has also decided to go for a similar boycott of those families, which associate, conduct businesses with or have acted as witness to the love marriages of members of the boycotted families. Same boycott will be faced by those who provide shelter to couples from elsewhere who have entered into love marriage and come to our village to stay,” the young man announced.
When questioned by journalists on Sunday about the strange development which were against the law, the concerned youth Arun (who was seen making the meeting’s decision public in the video), said, “The village had unanimously made the decisions and he was merely reading out those decisions after the meeting held 4-5 days back.”
After the video went viral the Piploda Janpad Panchayat chief executive officer (CEO) BS Hans visited the concerned village on Sunday evening and met with key persons present at the recent meeting and counselled them, particularly cautioning them about the legal action which would be initiated if they go ahead with their decisions.
Meanwhile, with the matter likely to land them into legal trouble, the village elders are now defending the meeting and the outlandish decisions, by claiming that the resolution has been passed unanimously to discourage the growing trend among youngsters (particularly girls) eloping with their love to marry, against the wishes of family.
“Seven to eight boys and girls from the village have eloped over the last 5-6 months and married, which is establishing a dangerous trend for other children in the village,” sources present at the recent meeting said while justifying the strange decisions.
Meanwhile, the families who were named (those who will face the boycott) at the meeting, while feeling offended by the meeting and its decision, are planning to approach the district administration and police for justice.
A senior police officer in Ratlam district, when contacted by the TNIE on the issue, said, “The viral video will be probed and appropriate action will follow suit against all those who are found to be considering themselves above the law.”