Bhiwani, March 07: “They will finish us off… please help us if you can,” said Randhir Singh in a low and trembling voice on phone to The Times of India on Saturday. Holed up at home in Samarpur village for the last three days, he and his wife Prema Devi feared they would be set afire as a rampaging mob reportedly closed in despite the presence of cops for their security.
Ostracized by the khap (caste panchayat) following their son Shribhagwan Legha’s marriage to Anita Phogat in alleged violation of brethren norms, the ageing couple claimed to have little faith in police, what with brutal khap members laying siege to their house and pelting it with stones relentlessly. “They have destroyed our standing crop and dismantled tube-wells and the engine. We haven’t opened our door for the last three days. We have run out of vegetables, tea… but we can’t step out though six cops, two of them with firearms, are present in the adjoining room and verandah. The mob may even sever electricity supply to our house,” said Randhir.
Stating that even cops stationed there were growing uneasy, Randhir added, “They have called for more force.” Fearing miscreants could set their house afire, sources said, “Police are yet to realize the growing danger to the couple’s life. Despite written complaints by Randhir and Anita, no case has been registered so far.”
The khap had ordered the couple to leave after holding it guilty of violating bhaichara ties between Legha and Phogat gotras when Shribhagwan had married Anita of Makdani village recently after a long, secret affair. The newly-wed couple had fled their homes for Rajasthan, where Shribhagwan was employed in police.
–Agencies