Maharashtra: 12 booked for ordering social boycott of family over marriage in Ratnagiri

Photo for representational purpose

Police have registered an offence against at least 12 persons for allegedly ordering social boycott of a 23-year-old man and his family in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra after he married a woman belonging to his caste from his own hamlet, an official said on Thursday.

The man recently lodged a complaint at Devrukh police station in Ratnagiri's Sangmeshwar tehsil, alleging humiliation by the group of villagers, who opposed his marriage within the local fraternity, the official said.

"The complainant and the accused belong to the same caste (Scheduled Caste). He hails from Patgaon Bouddhawadi at Devrukh. He currently works with a leading private broadcast satellite service provider as an engineer and currently stays at Vasai in Palghar district," the police official said.

He married a 20-year-old woman he was in love with at Khar in Mumbai last year. The woman was also from his hamlet and belonged to the same caste. She resided in Kopar Khairane in Navi Mumbai and worked in another department of his company, he said.

"After the marriage, the members of their community from the hamlet decided to boycott the complainant's family as he married a woman, who belonged to the same place. According to them, such marriages were not permitted as they considered the hamlet as one fraternity," the official said.

The community members also told them that the marriage was not acceptable to them. The decision to boycott the complainant and his family was taken in a meeting held on March 15 last year in Patgaon and it mentioned the same in the meeting book, he added.

After the meeting, the complainant's family was not allowed to speak to any person belonging to their community or attend any functions or celebrations of the community members at the hamlet. Besides, the family was also not allowed to enter the village, he said.

The complainant's family was also not allowed to inform about the death of the complainant's grandmother and his uncle was not given permission to attend the death rituals, he said.

"Based on the man's complaint, an offence was registered against the accused under sections of the

Maharashtra Prohibition of People from social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal)Act,2016, and under various IPC sections including 120 B, 143 and 153," the official said.

"Notices have been issued to the accused in this connection. The father of the complanant's wife is one of the accused in the case," he said.

Investigation into the case is on, he said.

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