Fatehabad village panchayat bans entry of widow for 15 years

ROHTAK: The panchayat of Fatehabad’s Dhani Bhojaraj has issued a diktat banning the entry of a widow to her in-laws village for the next 15 years.

Bala Devi said after her husband’s demise, the panchayat told her to not step foot in the village till her son turned 18.

“A panchayat was called after my in-laws refused to give me my husband’s share of land after his demise. They then agreed to register the same in my son’s name, but objected to my entry into their house. However this week, the panchayat passed a diktat banning my entry into the village for the next 15 years. It has asked me to live at my parental home along with my son and daughter and allowed to rejoin my in-laws only after my son turns 18,” Devi said.

Stating that the panchayat had done injustice with her,

Devi added, “It is very difficult for me to live at my parental home for so long.”

When contacted, sarpanch Sadhu Ram agreed that the panchayat did pass an order to such effect.

“We had called a panchayat after Devi and her in-laws were constantly engaging in domestic fights. Initially, the in-laws were accusing Devi of her husband’s death, but later accepted their mistake. We have asked Devi to return to her in-laws’ house when her son attains the age of 18 years,” the sarpanch added.

Bhuna block development and panchayat officer Mahender Singh said the panchayat has done injustice to the widow and the sarpanch did not have any right to pass such a diktat.

“We can take action only against the sarpanch,” he said, adding that the rest of the investigation will be done by the police, if the woman files an official complaint.