Man faces social boycott for not hosting wedding feast in UP

A poor man, who did not organise a grand community feast on the occasion of his daughter’s wedding is now facing “social boycott” in Jabtapur village of Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnore district.

According to reports, Ramesh Kumar, a labourer who earned barely enough to make two ends meet, had married off his daughter a few days ago. The wedding was solemnised in a simple manner. Barely a handful of people, mainly the close relatives, were present at the ceremony.

Ramesh could not host a grand community feast as desired by many in the village. Some residents of the village convened a panchayat and after hours of deliberations decided that Kumar had “disregarded social traditions” and must be punished. Kumar pleaded that he did not have money to organise the feast, but his plea fell on deaf ears.

The panchayat asked the residents for “social boycott” of Kumar and said whosoever kept any kind of relationship with him would be punished. Apparently hurt, Kumar approached the local cops, but they expressed their inability to do anything as it was a “social matter”.  The senior police officials, however, took note of the matter and ordered a probe. “We will take action if the report is found to be true,” said a senior police official in Bijnore.