The toddler, who was snatched away from his parents by a caste panchayat’s diktat in Karnal district of Haryana, has been restored to his mother after police intervention.

The panchayat had annulled the marriage between his parents on the plea that they were from the same gotra (sub-caste) and they were asked to live like brother and sister.

Even as the 11-day-old infant, Ankush, was handed over to his mother, Kavita, the latter’s brother has threatened to get rid of his sister and her husband, Pawan.

Kavita’s brother said his sister had had broken the community customs and brought a “bad name to the family”.
The police has also registered a case of kidnapping and criminal intimidation against six people of the caste panchayat who were involved in issuing the edict against the couple and had asked the couple to handover the infant to the care of panchayat.

The child was given to another couple in Karnal town and was recovered by the police after raiding a house there on Sunday  night. The government and the district administration was forced to act in the matter only after media scrutiny into the incident which had made national headlines.

Pawan, Kavita and their kid were brought to Chandigarh by the Haryana police under heavy security on Monday. Pawan said they would go to Mumbai to resume their life. An elated Kavita while thanking the police for restoring her child to her said she would fight even if the society did not support her.

However,  the couple would live under the shadow of fear after Kavita’s brother, Rajesh, announced that he would not allow them to live together and kill them. “They have broken community traditions. They have no right to live,” he said.