Two panchayatdars held for levying fine on couple over love marriage

The arrested were identified as Kamalakannan and Selvaraj, traditional panchayatdars, while another panchayatdar is absconding.

According to police, Nagaraj, father of the girl Bhavani, on coming to know that his daughter was in love with Jeevanandam, son of Murugan of Kilpallipattu, arranged for her marriage with a local boy and completed the engagement formalities a week ago. Meanwhile, Bhavani and Jeevanandam eloped and got married at a local temple on Monday last.

When they returned to Kilpallipattu, the panchayatdars demanded that the newlywed pay Rs 40,000 fine to the panchayat as their wedlock was instrumental in stopping Bhavani’s marriage with a local youth slated for Wednesday.

Going further, the panchayatdars issued an order that if a couple married for love, the girl’s parents should pay Rs 5,000 and the boy’s side Rs 8,000. However, in Jeevanandam’s case, the panchayat demanded that the girl’s side pay Rs 10,000 and Jeevanandam family Rs 40,000. Bhavani’s parents coughed up the full fine amount and Jeevanandam’s father paid half of it i.e. Rs 20,000 by taking loan for interest. 

However, Jeevanandam finding it hard to pay the rest of the fine amount, complained to Tirupattur SP P Vijayakumar about the panchayat order and fine and said that the panchayat threatened to ostracize the couple if they did not pay the full amount. Based on the SP’s instructions, police arrested both panchayatdars and seized the cash they collected as fine from the couple and their parents.