'Shoot-at-sight' order against dalit lovers in UP

 
The ‘shoot-at-sight’ order was issued by the panchayat at a meeting of its members held at Aldi village in Muzaffarnagar district a few days back. The meet had asked the lovers to leave the village and never to come back.

The panchayat also allegedly asked the members to shoot them (lovers) if they were seen within 25-km radius of the village, police sources said.

The haples lovers were taken out of the village by one of the ‘panch' (member of the panchayat), who dropped them at some distance from the village.

The dalit widow invited the wrath of the panchayat after she fell in love with a married youth of the same caste.

Soon the couple approached the district court for being married. The people in the village came to know about it when a police team arrived at the village to make an inquiry, sources said.

The couple has been untraceable since and attempts were being made to locate them, said a senior police official. The members of the panchayat have also been absconding after pronouncing the order.