Panchayat orders marriage of minor

In a bizarre incident of meting out "punishment" to an eloped couple's families, a community panchayat here "penalised" the boy's family by ordering nikah of a minor girl belonging to the boy's side with the boy of the girl's family. What's more, the nikah was performed in the presence of the police at Thana Bhawam town of the district on Sunday.

Three policemen, including, sub-inspector Inder Singh, have been suspended and an inquiry ordered against them, Senior superintendent police (rural) M. Ashok Jain said. SP (rural) S.B. Pathak will conduct the probe, Mr Jain said.

The eloped couple has not been traced as yet. According to the police, a meeting of the community panchayat was called on December 4 soon after the couple "ran away" and it was decided that the family members of the eloped boy would have to perform nikah with the boy belonging to the eloped girl's family.

As per the panchayat diktat, minor girl, Rubina, 13 was married off to Sajid on December 9.

The parents of the minor girl reportedly did not object to the nikah, community members said