Upset over social boycott, auto driver commits suicide

PUNE: A 49-year-old autorickshaw driver, who was allegedly disturbed by the decision of the jaat panchayat (caste tribunal) to continue with his expulsion from his Lingayat Gawali community, was found hanging at his residence at Sainathnagar in Vadgaonsheri in the early hours of Monday.
The panchayat had expelled Arun Naikuji from the community in December 2014 after learning that he used to visit a couple who had an inter-caste marriage.
It may be noted that slain anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar, founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS), had started a campaign against such jaat panchayats.
After Naikuji's son Suraj (24) lodged a complaint, the Chandannagar police booked four panchayat members and other community members for abetment in the suicide. The four panchayat members, who are residents of Gawaliwada at Boottee Street in the Pune cantonment, have gone missing after the incident.
According to the complaint, Naikuji and other community members had attended the inter-caste marriage at Pandharpur five years ago. A youth from the community had got married to a girl from another community.
Senior police inspector Anil Pathrudkar said the community members were unaware that it was an intercaste marriage. "When the panchayat got to know the fact about three years back, it called a meeting at Gawaliwada where it was decided to boycott the newly-married couple. Community members, including close relatives, began boycotting the couple and would not invite them for functions or marriages," he said.
Pathrudkar said that Naikuji, however, continued to visit the couple and somebody brought this to the notice of the panchayat. In December 2014, the panchayat again held a meeting and decided to boycott Naikuji too. "Nobody visited Naikuji's family members since then.They were also not invited for social and religious gatherings," he said.
According to Naikuji's son, what got his father really disturbed was not being invited for the marriage of a close relative around 15 days ago and he decided to end his life.
On Monday, MANS members visited Naikuji's family and offered all possible help. They also went to the police station and demanded strict action against the panchayat members.