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Socially boycotted for three decades by his community for marrying a woman from another caste, Umesh Chandrakant Rudrap, 56, of the Telgu Madelwar Parit Community Pune, is now leading a normal life.
Rudrap thanks the Maharashtra Protection of People from Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act passed by the Maharashtra state legislature in April 2016. The act came into force on July 13, 2017, after receiving Presidential assent. Punishment for an offence under this act includes a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh and imprisonment of up to seven years or both.
On July 17, 2017, Rudrap had lodged a complaint under this act at the Kondhwa police station against 17 members of the “caste panchayat” of the Telgu Madelwar Parit Community for allegedly imposing a social boycott on him and his family due to his inter-caste marriage.
It was the first case in the state under the Maharashtra Protection of People from Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act. Caste Panchayat members had to face arrest and were later released on bail.
As the matter went to the court, in April 2022, the caste panchayat entered into a compromise with Rudrap as per the provisions of this act. They lifted the social boycott on Rudrap and his family, residing in Shivneri Nagar in Kondhwa.
On May 7, 2022, D J Patil, the then joint judicial magistrate first class, Cantonment Court, Pune passed an order, “Case is disposed off, as compromised.”
The order stated, “…the matter is settled out of the court and he (Rudrap) is now a member of the Telgu Madelwar Parit Community. Therefore, he does not want to proceed further. Permission is granted to compound the matter. The matter is compoundable with the consent of the victim and with the permission of the court. The compromise appears legal and voluntary….”
Facing disregard
Narrating his battle against the social boycott, Rudrap, who now works as a driver with a travel firm, said he got married on January 25, 1990, to a Buddhist girl Manju living in his neighbourhood, following a love affair.
“Soon, we were socially boycotted by the panchayat of our community. We were respected in our friend circle and neighbourhood, but faced treatment of disregard in our community, just for inter-caste marriage. We were not invited or allowed to attend any programmes like marriage, funeral of close relatives, and religious functions organised by the community members,” he said.
Rudrap said his wife was ignored when she attended any functions meant for women in the community, like the traditional “haldi kumkum” ceremony.
“Even my children were ignored by the community. So for the sake of my children, in 2009 and even later, I tendered my apology to the panchayat members and requested them to lift the social boycott on us. But there was no response. Then came the act against social boycott and I decided to use it for seeking justice,” he said.
Filing a case
Rudrap sought assistance from the activists of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS), founded by slain anti-superstition activist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, who had protested against the practice of social boycott for several years.
On July 17, 2017, with the help of MANS activists Nandini Jadhav, Milind Deshmukh, and others, Rudrap went to the Kondhwa police station along with a dozen families from his community who had been socially boycotted and filed a complaint against the panchayat members.
And then things started changing. In April 2019, the Khadki division of Telugu Madelwar Parit community panchayat compounded with the couple it had socially boycotted due to inter-caste marriage for about 20 years, as per the provisions of the Social Boycott Act.
During a press conference, the panchayat members gave a “membership form” to the victims Ajit Ramchandra Chinchane and his wife Maya, who were socially boycotted after they got married in 1999. However, Rudrap’s case was regarding a social boycott by the Pune division of the panchayat.
Call for compromise
Rudrap said a few days after he lodged the FIR, some panchayat members sent messages through “middlemen”, a few elderly persons in the community, that he should take the case back and they would lift the social boycott on his family. But Rudrap followed the legal procedure.
“We faced a tough time battling social boycott for about 30 years. We got success after being empowered by the law. We thank the court, police, and social activists for all the support,” said Rudrap.
“I have two children, a son and a daughter. Earlier, children from the community were felicitated if they did well in their studies. But my children were ignored after they scored well in exams. I was worried about their marriage too as community members were told they should not maintain relations with me,” he said.
“But now my children are happily married. I am glad my children and the next generations from our community would not face the problems we went through due to social boycotts,” said Rudrap.
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