Panchayati way to resolve marital dispute goes in vain

The dispute between the husband and wife had occurred in far away Australia and as a result the husband landed in jail there, but the two families tried to resolve it in a ‘desi’ style-through a ‘panchayat’.

Their efforts, however, did not succeed as the administration cited imposition of prohibitory orders and banned the panchayat, which was to be held in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra district, about 350 kilometres from the state capital, on Saturday.

Reports said Lokendra Singh – a resident of Bharatpur district, which was located on the borders of UP – was a medical practitioner in Australia.

Singh had married a girl, who hailed from Agra district, after an affair that continued for two years. The wife too later left for Australia.

Almost a year back, Singh planned to buy a flat in Bharatpur but later on he changed his plans and bought two flats in Nagpur in Maharashtra on the advice of his wife.
Incidentally the parents of his wife were settled in Nagpur.

A little later the parents of Singh’s wife moved in one of the flats which triggered a dispute between husband and wife.

Heated arguments

Reports said that the two had once heated arguments over the issue during which Singh allegedly hit his wife on the neck.

The furious wife called the police and lodged a case of attempt to murder against Singh.
Singh was later arrested and has been in jail in Australia for the past ten months.
The wife in the meantime returned to her parents in India.

Resolving matter

In a bid to resolve the matter and pave the way for the release of his son, Singh’s father had proposed a panchayat in Agra’s Malpura area to which the girl’s parents had agreed.
The panchayat was proposed for Saturday in which the elders of their community were to be present to arrive at some amicable settlement.

The police, however, got wind of the panchayat and banned the same apprehending violence though it cited imposition of section 144 in the district, sources said.
DH News Service