Intercaste Marriage Leads to Ostracism of Couple in Karnataka Village

In a distressing incident, a differently-abled couple faced expulsion from their village in Chitradurga district, Karnataka, due to their inter-caste marriage. The incident has prompted an official investigation into the matter.

Both the husband and wife have hearing and speech impairments. The woman, originally from N Devarahalli, and her husband, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, tied the knot on April 7, 2021, while working at a private company in Bengaluru. Following their marriage, they returned to the woman's hometown.

However, trouble arose when members of the Jogi community, to which the woman belonged, objected vehemently to their inter-caste union. The community leaders took the drastic step of expelling the couple from the village and imposed a fine of ₹30,000 on the woman's parents. This harsh punishment was meted out despite the couple's hearing and speech impairments.

Recently, the woman sought refuge at her parents' house, bringing her child along. Nevertheless, leaders from the Jogi community summoned her parents and ordered them to expel their daughter and her husband from the village. They even threatened to banish the parents if they failed to comply with this demand.

Recognizing the vulnerability of the couple, the woman found temporary shelter at Santwana Kendra in Challakere for two days. Subsequently, authorities relocated her and her child to another center in Chitradurga under the supervision of district women and children welfare officer Bharathi Banakar.

In response to the situation, revenue authorities have launched an investigation and are considering appropriate actions. Challakere Tehsildar Rehan Pasha stated his intention to visit N Devarahalli and engage with Jogi community elders to address the issue. He emphasized that strict action would be taken to uphold the law, and if the community elders persisted in their demands, a formal complaint would be filed against them.

This incident underscores the challenges and social pressures that inter-caste couples sometimes face in India, particularly in rural communities.

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