9 held in Rajasthan for ostracising two men

Jaipur, Dec 23 (IANS) Nine persons have been arrested on charge of ordering the social boycott of two brothers and imposing fines of Rs 20,000 each on them after they were late in attending a community panchayat meeting, police said on Wednesday."The panchayat members had ostracised the two and forced them to pay Rs 20,000 each as penalty for disobedience in February this year," Chittor Kotwali police station SHO Tulsiram Prajapati said.Victims Kamlesh and Kishanlal Dhakad lodged a police complaint on December 13. The two had already paid half of their penalty amounts, said police officials.The brothers, who are residents of Nayi Abadi in Chittorikheda, also claimed that they were made to carry the shoes of community panchayat members on their heads for an hour, but the SHO maintained that the charge could not be corroborated during police investigation.
--IANS arc/tsb