To gather data on couples involved in intercaste and interfaith weddings in the state, the Maharashtra government issued a contentious decision and established a 13-member Inter-caste, Inter-faith Marriage Coordination Committee in December 2022. Such information will also end up in official records if the lady in the marriage is alienated from her maternal relatives. This contentious Government Resolution (GR), which was released by the state government’s Women and Child Department, was implemented shortly after the Shraddha Walkar case came to light, in which it was revealed that her live-in boyfriend had killed, dismembered, and dumped the victim’s body parts all around Delhi.
During the announcement of the order, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the minister for women and child development, said that it was intended to keep girls safe and prevent incidents like the one involving Shraddha Walkar. The state’s opposition had mocked this decree and called for its cancellation.
Meeting regularly with district authorities, the panel led by Lodha has requested them to learn the specifics of every registered and unregistered interfaith and intercaste weddings that have taken place in each district. The data will be gathered and sent to Lodha’s department for further processing.
The district government has been entrusted with visiting the houses of couples who have fled to wed outside their caste or religion and collecting all necessary information. The Committee will serve as a counselor and assist in reopening communication with the woman’s family if the family has lost contact with her as a result of eloping or because she married against their desires. In order to prevent situations like the Walkar’s, where her family had excommunicated her and had no further contact with her, the Committee will make an effort to bring such women and their maternal families together.
This Committee will also serve as a counseling resource for wives who are divorcing them. Such ladies may speak with the committee members and ask for assistance if necessary, as can their family members. According to Lodha, the goal is to tackle the problem with the assistance of the government. The committee has been having regular meetings with the representatives of the state’s 36 districts to discuss welfare programs that the federal and state governments may implement for women who marry outside their caste or religion.
The committee’s principal goal is to determine if such unions have occurred against the parents’ desires and without their permission. This committee will examine unions that were performed in temples or other sacred spaces and registered with the court. According to Lodha, if there is no communication with the parents, the committee would interrogate the parents in-depth and determine what will happen to such marriages.
This GR is still in place, and interfaith and interreligious couples are still being watched despite objections from many sources.