According to police sources, a girl of Mohammadpur village had an affair with a boy of the nearby Vinayakpur village.

The two had eloped a few months back. The lovers were however traced later to Kumarganj town in Faizabad and were brought back to the village.

Rs 55,000 fine

As the matter pertained to the same caste, it was reffered to the caste panchayat, which held the family of the boy guilty and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the father of the boy.  He was also ordered to pay an additional Rs 5,000 to the ‘biradari’(castemen).

Repeated pleas of the boy’s father to waive the fine fell on deaf ears.

As the hapless father expressed his inability to pay the fine immediately and sought time, the panchayat ruled that he would to have pledge his minor daughter with the family of the girl until the fine was paid in full. When the girl’s father Mithailal failed to arrange the money even after three months, he  approached the district court, which directed the police to register a case of abduction against the culprits, sources said.

Khandasa police station in-charge Someshwar Singh said that a case was registered in compliance with the court order and three persons were taken into custody in this regard. Acting swiftly, the police also raided the house of the culprits and rescued the 11-year old girl from there.

The girl later in her statement made before the police alleged that she was raped repeatedly by several people while she was in custody of the culprits.  A medical examination of the girl would be conducted to ascertain if she was subjected to physical abuse, Singh said.

Caste panchayats in UP are known for their bizarre decisions. In the past the panchayats have given strange decisions, which at times went against the law.