RAIPUR: A distressed Chhattisgarh Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mekhlendra Pratap Singh facing social boycott from his own community for marrying a woman of his choice, lodged an FIR in his home town Bilaspur claiming that his marriage was performed as per the social tradition.
Singh, 35, who hailed from ‘Satgarh Tanwar’ community (Scheduled Tribe), is posted in Kanker district where he is engaged in the ongoing anti-Maoist operations. He claimed his wife too is from the same tribal caste.
The community leaders however got further antagonised after the case was registered against them and approached the high court filing a petition that the FIR was lodged on baseless ground. They also alleged before the court of being harassed by the police with repeated notices served to them.
“Chhattisgarh high court has rebuked the community leaders warning them not to act like a Khap panchayat and dismissed their petition. But the community leaders remain adamant to continue their diktat and my entire family is socially ostracised. They are now threatening us to impose heavy punitive fine”, the DSP told TNIE while sharing his mental agony.
The police officer also wrote to the school education department seeking appropriate action against the two senior community leaders presently posted as a principal and a senior teacher in different schools citing that their behaviour is akin to serious social crime and against the Chhattisgarh Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1965.
The police officer married Amisha Singh, who is from north Chhattisgarh’s Sarguja district. “The boycott apparently has more to do with the animosity between the communities living in two different regions rather than the caste. We both are from the same tribal community then where does such an issue of inter-caste marriage arise?” said DSP Singh.
The family of the officer's wife stated that they never had any problem with the marriage and were taken aback with the social boycott decree imposed on the police officer by his community.
Rationalists cited that the DySP being an adult is well within his right to marry the woman. “Such imposed exclusion from society or community on trivial reasons causes deeper and invisible pain. But sadly there is no effective law to combat the ever increasing menace. Over 25000 individuals or families are bearing the brunt of social boycott in Chhattisgarh alone,” said Dr Dinesh Mishra, Raipur-based ophthalmologist and recipient of the union government’s national award for promoting scientific temper.
Officials told TNIE that there are already provisions under the protection of civil rights act that can offer relief to the victims.