Maha govt sets up committee to collect information about inter-caste couples

The Maharashtra government has set up a committee to gather information about the intercaste or interfaith marriage couples and the maternal families of the women involved if they are estrangedThe Government Resolution GR issued on Tuesday by the states Women and Child Development Department said the IntercasteInterfaith marriagefamily coordination committee state level will be headed by state Women and Child Development Minister Mangal Prabhat LodhaThe committee will monitor districtlevel initiatives for women involved in such marriages who may be estranged from their families so that assistance can be provided if necessary it saidThe committee will be a platform for women and their families to avail counselling and resolve issues the GR said adding that the panel will have 13 members from government and nongovernment fields to study policies of the state and central government regarding welfare schemes and laws related to the matterAlso Read G20 meet Cultural programs showcasing Maharashtras cultural heritage organised in MumbaiThe committee will hold regular meetings with district officials and collect information of registered and unregistered interfaith and Intercaste marriages on such marriage that took place in places of worship and marriages took place after elopementLast month minister Lodha had asked the State Womens Commission to set up a special squad to identify women who married without family support and are estranged from them This decision was taken in view of the Shraddha Walkar murder caseWalkar was murdered allegedly by her livein partner Aaftab Poonawala in Delhi in May this year Poonawala allegedly strangled Shraddha and cut her body into 35 pieces which he kept in a 300litre fridge for almost three weeks at his residence in Mehrauli in south Delhi before dumping them across the city over several daysMaharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had recently said that his government would study laws on freedom of religion dubbed as legislations on love jihad enacted by other states but had not yet decided on introducing a similar law in the western stateLove jihad is a term often used by rightwing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriageThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever