A 24-year-old woman in Madhya Pradesh's Betul district was allegedly forced to take a dip in the Narmada river and cut her hair during a ‘purification’ ritual by her family because she married a Dalit man.
The incident took place in August but came to light after the couple filed a complaint and sought police protection as the woman’s family was forcing her to marry a man from the same community.
The police have registered a case against four members of the woman’s family, including her parents, on charges of voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation under Sections 506, 504, 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
No arrests have been made so far.
As per the woman’s complaint, she belongs to an Other Backward Class (OBC) and secretly married a 27-year-old man belonging to the Scheduled Caste community on 11 March 2020.
Her family got to know about the marriage in December 2020 after she started living with the man.
On 10 January this year, the father of the woman filed a missing person report at the Chopna police station.
Following the report, police found her and took her back to her parents.
In March, the woman, who was studying in a nursing college in Betul, was shifted to a hostel.
Months later in August, her family took her to Sethani ghat of Narmada river for a purification ritual, she said.
“I was not aware of this ritual, but later my family members told me that I had been purified for marrying a Dalit,” the woman said.
“Now, they want me to remarry a man of my community. On 28 October, I came from the hostel to Betul to file a police complaint," she said.
The woman’s husband said that the family of the woman was threatening them with dire consequences and pressuring her to divorce him.
“We are investigating the matter and trying to verify the claims of the woman,” police superintendent Simala Prasad said, adding that the in-charge of the local outpost of the village has been asked to ensure safety of the couple.
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