Iqrana Bano, 23-year-old Muslim fell in love with Amar Deep, a 25-year-old Jat boy.
The couple, who hail from the same village Jhundpur in Baghpat district eloped and got ‘married’ two weeks ago and returned on Tuesday, armed with a marriage certificate.
According to Mailtoday reports,Bano as soon as reached her village landed at Doghat police station with the request of police protection because they are apprehensive as the local panchayat won’t allow them to live together.
The police are worried as they were well aware of the fact how such cases causes communal clash and flare up the western UP.
Therefore, the police hurriedly took Bano for medical examination and recorded her statement before a magistrate, confirming her statement that she and Amar Deep are husband and wife now.
“I have changed my name. Now I am Anu, wife of Amar Deep. We got married in the marriage court in Allahabad on June 5. Now we want to live in the village peacefully,” she has stated.
Around the same time, a panchayat of five villages come to a decision that since the boy was a Jat, they wouldn’t let a “daughter of the village” settle there as a daughter-in-law. Irrespective of their religion, the boys and girls who live in a village are brothers and sisters, said the Panchayat.
A few Jats of disrepute village Jolla of Muzaffarnagar were reportedly also there at the panchayat.
Som Pal, son of the village Chief Charan Singh said the panchayat was summoned to make sure that nothing unpleasant happens there.
“We held a panchayat to maintain peace and harmony. We can wait for legal proceedings in the case. But it wouldn’t be easy to let them live here as husband and wife. They can stay here if they are ready to live separately and forget the marriage,” he said.
Mohammad Shabbir, father of Iqrana said, “We will follow the legal path and move the court to declare this marriage null and void.”
According to Additional Superintendent of Police Vidya Sagar Mishra said, “The woman is in our protection. We are following legal formalities in this regard. We will ensure that the newly-wed couple is safe and no other panchayat is convened here in the future.”
As the villagers are unpredictable, therefore they have deployed Local Intelligence Units in the area. “An inter-religious marriage means a volatile situation here. Obviously, we have to act smoothly and smartly,” said the police officer.