Couple fined 6 lakh for inter-caste marriage, face boycott

Chamarajanagar (Karnataka): In a shocking development in Karanataka's Chamarajanagar district, a couple was fined and faced a boycott in their village for their inter-caste marriage.

The incident had taken place at Kunagalli village in Kollegal taluk in the district. According to police, the couple got married five years ago but the villagers came to know about their different castes only recently.

The villagers had fined the couple Rs 6 lakh and boycotted them in the village. The couple were not able to take the humiliation and filed a complaint with police in Kollegal on March 1.

Govindaraju, belonging to the Uppara Setty community, had fallen in love with Shwetha, from Mandya, belonging to the Scheduled Castes. When they decided to get married, the families of the boy and the girl agreed without opposition and their marriage was solemnised in the sub-registrar's office.

Govindaraju settled in Malavalli, but often came to visit his parents, along with his wife, in Kunagalli. When the couple came there last month, Shwetha, talking to her neighbour, had disclosed that she is a Dalit.

The matter reached the elders of the village and they held a meeting on February 23. They called the parents of the couple and imposed a Rs 3 lakh fine on them and asked them to pay the fine by March 1.

After the couple had lodged a complaint with police against 12 persons of the village in this connection, the elders, after coming to know about the complaint, increased the fine amount to Rs 6 lakh and boycotted Govindaraju's family from the village. The villagers have sent the family out of the village and passed a diktat that they should not purchase rations, vegetables, milk, and water from the village.

The authorities have taken up the investigation.