Disapproving Inter Caste Marriage, Family Abducts Woman From Punjab Court

In yet another case of families disapproving of inter-caste marriage, a 21-year-old woman was abducted in broad daylight from the court premises in Punjab where she had gone with her husband to seek protection. 

The newly married woman was abducted by a mob of 40-50 people from the court premises in Patiala, Punjab, where she had gone to record her statement with her husband in court and seek protection. 

The couple married against the will of the family four days before the kidnapping. The family was upset over the inter-caste marriage and strongly disapproved of it resulting in the couple fleeing.

Woman Abducted By Mob In Broad Daylight

On November 14, a mob of over forty people reached the Patiala local court to bring the woman back to her family home. The woman's family members, who were part of the mob too, abducted her publicly when she refused to move from there.

In the presence of her husband, the woman was kidnapped from outside the gates of the court where the couple was headed to record a statement seeking protection.

Reportedly, the couple is from Fatehgarh Sahib district of Punjab and managed to marry four days before the abduction in a temple despite the disapproval of family who was against the inter-caste marriage. To seek protection after the marriage, the couple had to record a statement in court on Tuesday.

The Station House Officer (SHO) of the Lahori Gate police station, J S Kahlon said that after recording the necessary statements, the police registered a case under relevant sections of IPC for kidnapping charges. 

The lawyers' association condemned the incident raising concerns over the breaching of security inside the court's premises and the Democratic Lawyer Association (DLA) alleged the incident took place inside the court near the sessions court. 

Co-convener of DLA, Advocate Rajiv Lohatbaddi commented on the incident saying the kidnapping was executed by around 80 people while the police personnel were "muted spectators." He also said how it is a grave concern and they recently had a meeting where they presented the idea of installing CCTV in various locations of the court premises. 

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