A Dalit family from Ena Khera village in Punjab’s Muktsar district has been forced to live away from their home for more than a month after their son married a Jatt Sikh girl from the same village. The family says their house was later attacked and looted by the girl’s relatives.
Twenty-two-year-old Surinder Singh, who belongs to a Dalit family, married the 18-year-old woman on July 7 at a gurdwara in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan. The couple also obtained a legal marriage certificate. But the marriage sparked outrage in their village, where the local panchayat had earlier passed a resolution against same-village marriages.
Surinder’s father, Malkit Singh, who is a baptised Granthi, and his uncle Gurmeet Singh, a painter, said they had to leave the village soon after the couple eloped. They took shelter with relatives. Later, they were told that the girl’s family had broken into their house, damaged property and stolen belongings. When they returned to see the condition of their home, they were allegedly abused with casteist slurs.
Malkit Singh said, “The village panchayat may oppose our son’s return, but that doesn’t justify the humiliation and violence we are facing.” The family has lodged a police complaint demanding justice.
Malout DSP Iqbal Singh Sandhu confirmed that the complaint was received on Friday. Police arrested three people, including the girl’s father and brother, under preventive provisions. “We are taking steps to prevent escalation and ensure the matter doesn’t turn into a larger inter-caste conflict,” he said.
This incident is not isolated. Just weeks earlier, in Ghal Kalan village of Moga, the mother of a boy was beaten up after her son married a girl from the same village. That case had drawn the attention of the Punjab State Women Commission, and an FIR was filed against several people, including the village sarpanch.
In recent months, many panchayats across Punjab have passed resolutions banning same-village marriages, citing “social customs” and “community pressure.” Activists and legal experts, however, say such resolutions go against the Constitution and discriminate against young couples.
