MUMBAI: A 50-year-old man's act of lodging a police complaint against the in-laws of his daughter in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district infuriated a local 'jaat panchayat' (caste council) which boycotted him and his family, and imposed a Rs 3 lakh fine on them, police said on Monday.
Acting in the matter, police have registered an offence against 23 members of the 'jaat panchayat' on the basis of a complaint for boycotting the family and imposing a fine on them.
The incident came to light on Wednesday last, when the man, a labourer, approached the Jamkhed police station in the western Maharashtra district, around 250km from Mumbai.
According to the complainant, his daughter got married in 2018, but her in-laws used to often harass her, due to which she moved out of their home and started residing with her parents, who stay in the Arole Vasti area of Jamkhed.
He approached the 'Bharosa Cell' of the Ahmednagar police and lodged a complaint against her daughter's in-laws.
However, members of a 'jaat panchayat' of the 'Nath Panthi Davari Gosavi', the community to which the complainant belongs, took objection to the registration of the police complaint.
They called a meeting of the caste group in Bhavarwadi forests, where the complainant was scolded for going to the police.
As the complainant allegedly violated rules of the community, members of the self-styled caste group threatened to expel him and his family members from the community, and also imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh on them, said a police official.
The complainant protested and refused to comply with their decision of social boycott and imposition of fine, the official said, adding members of the 'jaat panchayat' then threatened to kill him and his family members.
The aggrieved labourer approached the Jamkhed police and lodged a complaint against members of 'jaat panchayat' on Wednesday.
Based on the complaint, an FIR under relevant provisions of the Social Boycott Prevention Act, 2016, and IPC sections 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) was registered at the police station against 23 members of the caste council, he said.
No arrests have been made so far and a probe was underway, said the official.
