Runaway brides fuel tension in Saurashtra

Police say 57 elopements have been recorded in the region in the past three months and in 90 per cent of the cases, the couples were from different castes. In many cases, the parents stirred up trouble. “A missing son or daughter is first reported as `kidnapped’. In most cases, the parents know that their son or daughter has eloped but come to the police insisting that he or she has been kidnapped. Many times there are counter complaints. This leads to tension and the communities gang up against each other,” says a seniorCrime Branch officer.

While some communities make adjustments to accommodate inter-caste alliances, others like Ahirs, Mehrs, Bharwads and Dalits, reportedly find it tough to accept it. “They are caught in a time warp, with age-old customs and traditional values pulling them in one direction and a growing new generation that is trying to break free from the shackles in the other,” says sociologist Dr Hemixa Rao.

The tension sometimes results in violent crimes. In Porbandar, a Mehr boy who eloped with a Dalit girl was almost beaten to death while threats and harassement forced a 34-year-old Mehr doctor to leave the city after she married outside her caste. Recently, when Porbandar MLA Babubhai Bokhiria’s niece eloped with a Mehr boy, a complaint of kidnapping was registered.

Rajkot DSP Rahul Sharma feels that elopements turn into a serious problem “only when vested interests whip up passions in the name of community or religion”.