Rule of Law in Ruins: SDPI Condemns Caste Panchayat’s Tyranny in Uttar Pradesh

BM Kamble, National Vice President of the Social Democratic Party of India, strongly condemns the shameful incident in Bacheda village, Jhansi district, where a woman police constable’s family has faced social boycott and a ₹20 lakh fine by a caste-dominated panchayat for her inter-caste marriage to a police inspector. The UP Police’s refusal to register an FIR despite a formal complaint reveals a disturbing collapse of constitutional values under caste supremacy.

The boycott, denial of basic amenities, and threats violate Articles 14, 15, 17, and 21 of the Constitution. The ₹50,000 fine on anyone supporting the family exemplifies a feudal mentality that tramples the democratic spirit. Such extralegal decrees not only undermine the judiciary but also expose the hollowness of UP’s law-and-order claims. The police’s inaction reflects a systemic pattern where caste interests eclipse legal responsibility—echoing failures seen in cases like Hathras and the custodial killing of Atiq Ahmed. It is outrageous that a policewoman’s family is left unprotected by the very state she serves.

Uttar Pradesh recorded 12,287 cases of atrocities against Scheduled Castes in 2022, but the Bacheda case shows that even OBC families are targeted when they defy caste norms. SDPI demands immediate FIR registration under relevant IPC sections and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The UP government must enact a law like Maharashtra’s Social Boycott Act to criminalize caste-based fines and ostracism, implement anti-caste bias training for police, enforce the Lalita Kumari ruling on FIRs, and set up fast-track courts to deliver justice in such cases