Subcaste trouble again: Haryana family warned against marriage

ROHTAK - Days before their wedding, a panchayat in Farmana village of Rohtak district has warned a family against marrying its daughter to a youth as his sub-caste has “brotherly relations” with the girl’s.

Navin Boora, resident of Buddhakhera village in Jind district, is to wed the girl Saturday.

But a senior panchayat member said here Thursday: We have ordered the girl’s family to cancel the proposed wedding Feb 6. The boy belongs to Boora ‘gotra’ (subcaste) which has ‘bhaichara’ (brotherly relations) with the Saharan gotra (of the girl’s family). This marriage is not permissible as per our social norms.

Despite our warning, Samunder Singh, the father of the girl, has declined to accept our directions but we will not allow them to solemnise this marriage at any cost. Today we will also go to the boy’s village to inform his family members about our verdict.

This incident has come close on the heels of another gotra row in Kheri village in the same district where a panchayat had told a boy and girl to end their marriage and start living as ‘brother and sister’ as they were from the same gotra.

Haryana panchayats are notorious for not allowing marriages between people of the same ‘gotra’ or ‘brotherly gotras’. In fact, these strict social norms have even resulted in several killings.