In a Dalit hamlet in Krishnagiri, a ‘kangaroo court’ undermines individuals’ right to love

Allegedly slapping fines and enforcing social boycott of families in which young couples married for love, a local DMK functionary pushes them to penury

When Pradeep, a diploma holder, married his then girlfriend, a B.Sc. Botony graduate, it was a union of love, duly registered.  In time, their families accepted the couple, both from the same Dalit community.  But opposition came from an unexpected quarter. The Manayakarar (community head) of the Scheduled Caste village with over 200 households in Thogarapalli panchayat in Mathur held a community ‘court’ and slapped a fine of ₹25,000 on the families of the couple.

Mr. Pradeep’s case would be the beginning of the practice of the levy of ‘fines’ for falling in love by the feudal ‘kangaroo courts’ headed by Arignar, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) union secretary for the Bargur South constituency in the Thogarapalli panchayat.

“In our village, people have had love marriages before too.  But, these penalties started with my marriage after Arignar was made the community head.  That was a huge amount. They threatened to disconnect our water and electricity connection. We were unable to fight and our families paid up ₹25,000 each,” Mr. Pradeep said.  “I even told my uncle, who was then posted at Mathur Police Station, but he suggested I pay and let go of any conflict.”

Venkatesan, 56, a Havildar supervisor posted in Arunachal Pradesh, came to the village a fortnight ago for his mother’s funeral. “After a 12-hour descent by bus from my station in Arunachal, I took a flight to Chennai and then a bus to Mathur. But when I came home, it was a disturbing scene. None from our village was there and my family had to bury my mother by taking the help of outsiders to dig up the grave. That was when we realised there was a social boycott against our family,” Mr. Venkatesan said, breaking down in the middle.

Mr. Venkatesan’s brother’s son married within the same Dalit community in what was a ‘love-cum-arranged marriage’.  The February marriage, however, was met with a similar ‘fine’ from Mr. Arignar’s assembly.  Mr. Venkatesan’s family refused to pay up. “We did nothing wrong. They did not elope. The marriage was blessed by the families, then why would we pay?” Mr. Venkatesan asked.   

But the village adhered to the community diktat. “When we inquired, we were told that if anybody came for the funeral they would have to pay a fine of ₹10,000,” he said.

The ‘kangaroo court’ runs on patriarchal diktat. Its administrators claim to speak for the community with the stated aim of exercising social control. Men set the agenda and women are typically disallowed from participating. The fine of ₹25,000 is a form of enforcing social control and pushes people into penury.