Two arrested after Kangaroo Court threatens to ostracise newly-wed couple in Tamil Nadu

A Tamil Nadu couple who married against the will of the girl’s family was slapped with a fine by a kangaroo court and threatened with ostracism if the groom failed to pay the amount before the deadline, sources said.

The incident occurred in Kilpallipattu village in Vaniyambadi in Tirupathur district.

M Jeevanantham, 23, of Kilpallipattu, was in love with N Bhavani, a resident of Kollakuppam, after they met at a computer centre in Vaniyambadi. When the girl’s parents came to know of the affair, they decided to marry her off to another person.

In the meantime, both Jeevanantham and Bhavani eloped and got married on 17 October at a Christian prayer centre at Devamangalam before leaving for Chennai.

Sources said they returned to their village on 27 October. When their secret marriage was brought to the notice of the local village headmen, three elders -- R Selvaraj, G Kamalanathan and Shanmugam -- arranged the kangaroo court and slapped a fine of Rs. 40,000 on the groom on 28 October, saying that he brought disrepute to the girl’s family as they had arranged her marriage with another person.

He had borrowed Rs 20,000 to pay part of the fine but was set a deadline for paying the remaining amount. The kangaroo court also threatened to ostracise the couple if he failed to pay the remaining amount before the deadline.

Fearing social ostracism, he approached Tirupathur SP P Vijayakumar on Tuesday seeking action against the village headmen.

Subsequently, Vaniyambadi DSP Palaniselvam and Vaniyambadi Taluk Inspector K Mangaiyarkarasi held inquiries.

A case under sections 384 (extortion), 385 (putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion) and 506 (i) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code was registered against the village headmen and two of them -- R Selvaraj, 70, and G Kamalanathan, 65 -- were held.

Both were produced before the judicial magistrate court and remanded in judicial custody at the Vaniyambadi sub-jail.

The DSP warned against holding kangaroo courts. “There is no question of holding kangaroo courts. Since they have done it, we have taken action against them. People doing such an illegal act will face stringent action,” he said on Wednesday.

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