SC seeks presence of Dalit girl threatened by ‘khap’

The Supreme Court, to ascertain the factual position, on Monday sought the presence of a 23-year-old girl, who was allegedly ordered to be raped and paraded naked by a ‘khap panchayat’ as punishment for her brother falling in love with an upper caste girl and eloping with her.

A Bench comprising justices J Chelameswar and AM <g data-gr-id="17"><g data-gr-id="18">Sapre</g>,</g> directed the UP police not to arrest the brother of the girl and sought the presence of other family members before it on Tuesday. The girl’s brother had allegedly eloped with an upper caste girl, a habeas corpus petition, filed by the girl through lawyer Vivek Singh, said. The court's directions came after it heard the plea.

The girl, who hails from Baghpat in UP, has claimed that she had to "flee her village due to atrocities of members of Jat community and the UP Police. She and her family cannot return to her village and have been rendered homeless.

“The petitioner has been condemned by the Khap Panchayat to be raped and paraded naked because her brother fell in love and eloped with her friend and neighbour Krishna who belongs to the dominant caste of Jat,” the plea said.