Three members of a caste panchayat in Maharashtra were arrested for allegedly ostracising 11 families and imposing a "fine" on the family of a boy, who had 'eloped' with a girl of the same caste.
Ambad police station's inspector Rameshwar Khanal told PTI that the father of the girl had lodged a complaint against Dashrat Shankar Shinde for eloping his daughter and raping her, after which the police registered a case against him.
Later, a caste panchayat of the Raj Bhoi caste which included Shiva Laxman Shinde, Shankar Rama Phoolmali, Kailash Anna Shande, Shankar Marooti Shinde, Ramchand Laxman Shinde as well as Shankar Gangaram Pawar, summoned Dashrat Shinde's father Shankar Shinde and held his family responsible for the girl's plight, the police official said.
The Raj Bhoi caste panchayat ordered all members of that caste to socially boycott Shankar Shinde's family, the police official said.
However, after eight months, 11 families of the community began communicating with Shankar Shinde's family, defying the caste panchayat's diktat, the police official said.
So, the caste panchayat called another meeting and "banished" the 11 families from the community, for resuming social contact with Shankar Shinde's family, the police official said.
