‘No love marriages’: Haryana village moves against couples after 3 weddings

Residents of Aryanagar village in Haryana’s Hisar district have moved to discourage love marriages after three to four couples recently married against their families' wishes.

A village meeting held on Sunday, attended by around 1,000 people, discussed measures to prevent such marriages, with residents saying they wanted to “preserve the social fabric” of the community.

Residents warned that couples from the village who marry for love would not be allowed to live there. Reports also said that a proposal to impose social boycotts on such couples and their family members who support them was discussed.

However, BJP leader and village resident Hanuman Verma said the decision was not simply a panchayat diktat (order) but reflected the collective view of residents. He also denied that a formal resolution calling for a social boycott had been passed.

Verma said villagers viewed every girl in the community as their daughter and wanted to discourage marriages that went against family wishes.

At the meeting, residents also said families should not be held responsible if a couple chose to marry despite community opposition.

A committee is expected to be formed to examine the issue, while a door-to-door survey will be conducted to determine how many residents support the move.

Aryanagar sarpanch Ratan Lal declined to comment.

The elected village panchayat has distanced itself from the decision, according to reports. Aryanagar is also the native village of the in-laws of Haryana PWD Minister Ranbir Gangwa.