Authorities stops caste panchayat in Agra

The authorities here have stopped a caste panchayat convened to settle a marital dispute that landed a doctor from neighbouring Bharatpur district in an Australian jail on the charges of attempted murder, police said Saturday.

Police in Malpura, where the panchayat was convened Friday evening, said they did not allow the panchayat as the section 144 of the Indian Penal Code was already in force in Agra district.

Villagers said Lokendra Singh was in a jail in Australia for the past 10-month after a his wife called police in that country over a family dispute.

"Due to some comment by Lokendra against her father over a flat in Nagpur, the girl furiously retorted, which led to some physical interaction. The girl called police... Since then the boy is lodged in an Australian prison," one relative of Lokendra said.

Villagers said Lokendra's father Randhir Singh had requested for a panchayat to resolve the dispute but the administration did not allow the panchayat.