Uttar Pradesh village to fine girls on mobile phones and cow killers, reward informers

LUCKNOW: The panchayat of Madora village in Mathura district has found a strange way to pull in wrongdoers and put a leash on the crime rate by imposing hefty penalty on the culprits.

The panchayat members have decided to impose Rs 21,000 on girls talking on mobile phones while walking on the street, as they feel it increases the rate of crime against girls, and encourages elopement.

However, instead of cracking down on the criminals, the axe will fall on girls. Not only this, but anyone found indulging in cow slaughter or cow theft would have to shell out Rs 2 lakh, while those found selling liquor would have to cough up Rs 1.11 lakh.

However, the quantum of punishment apart from the penalty would be decided by the entire panchayat. The decision to this effect was announced by former village pradhan Mohd.
Gaffar on Tuesday, who said that the Muslim community here supported chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s campaign against cow slaughter.

“We, too, respect the cow and will not allow its killing," Gaffar said. Even the provision of reward is also there.

“Those who will provide information about cow slaughter or theft will get Rs 51,000,” Gaffar said adding that bovine killers would be handed over to police and also be boycotted socially in the village.
In case a person is not in a position to pay off the penalty, the money would be taken by selling off their property, said Gaffar.

Meanwhile, village pradhan Usman said that five committees to control crime were formed in the village and they will report to a high-powered committee which would take the final decision in cases of crime.
“If the super committee would fail to control incidents of crime, then police would be informed,” said Usman.

Madora was in the news in 2014 when over 2,000 voters here boycotted the Lok Sabha polls due to absence of a road in the village. They alleged that no one had paid any attention to their demands during the last 15 years.