The Aryavarth Express
New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court has granted police protection to a groom and his family after a Khap-like village panchayat in southeast Delhi allegedly issued a diktat opposing an inter-gotra marriage and threatened the family with death and social boycott.
The incident occurred in Village Khizrabad under the jurisdiction of the New Friends Colony police station. The predominantly Bidhuri gotra panchayat of the Gurjar community allegedly directed a Chechi gotra family to cancel the proposed marriage of their son with a woman belonging to the Bidhuri gotra. Both gotras are part of the Gurjar community.
According to the petition, members of the Bidhuri gotra threatened to ostracise or kill the groom’s family if the marriage was not cancelled. Social media platforms were also allegedly used to circulate inflammatory videos inciting violence against the family.
Justice Ravinder Dudeja, while hearing the petition filed by the groom’s father Rakesh, granted protection to the family, including his son Sagar. The Court also directed the Delhi Police to counsel members of the Bidhuri community and ensure that the marriage proceeds smoothly. The prosecution informed the Court that counselling of the respondents had already begun and would continue.
Advocates Sudhir Nagar and Mohit Singh, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the bride is a resident of Murad Nagar in Uttar Pradesh and has no connection with the villagers of Khizrabad. Despite this, the family has received repeated death threats and faced intimidation through meetings organised by the panchayat.
It was stated that on December 8, a group of people gathered outside the petitioner’s house around 11:30 pm, allegedly using abusive language and threatening to kill the entire family, forcing them to make a PCR call. The petitioners also claimed to possess video recordings of the so-called panchayat meetings where villagers were allegedly instigated to attack them.
The plea asserted that Gurjars are Hindus under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, and there is no legal bar to the marriage between two consenting adults from different gotras or sub-castes. It termed the objections raised by the panchayat as illegal, illogical, and contrary to constitutional values and societal norms.
The marriage is scheduled to take place on February 12, 2026. The petitioners, who claim their family has lived in Khizrabad for nearly 150 years, stated that they face an imminent threat to life and property due to continued intimidation, including threats to burn down their house.
The High Court’s intervention comes amid growing concern over illegal diktats issued by informal community bodies interfering in personal liberties and matrimonial choices.
