AHMEDABAD: A dispute over a penalty of Rs300, incurred more than six decades ago, continues to take its toll on the fourth generation of two families in a Sabarkantha village. The fight is so old that no one knows what sparked it or what the total penalty amount, which attracts compound interest if unpaid, is.
Yet, it has given rise to generational enmity as the members of both families continue to demand money from each other and attack each other over the issue.
The dispute dates to the 1960s when Harkha Rathod, a Dungari Bheel from Temba village in Poshina taluka, fought with fellow tribesman Jetha Rathod. A community court ruled that Harkha must pay Rs 300 to Jetha’s family.
Claiming the money had not been paid, Jetha’s family members attacked Harkha’s family members and vice versa. The court kept penalizing them, and they continued to remain in each other’s debt.
During Diwali last year, a community ‘panch’ of the Dungari Bheel (a tribe that lives in the mountains) revealed that Harkha’s family had accrued debt of Rs 25,000 in penalty. Since the money remained unpaid, Jetha’s two sons attacked Harkha’s grandson, Vinod, his wife, Champa, and their son, Kanti, in the first week of January.
A senior police officer from Kheroj said, “These are not the only two families that have accumulated financial debt over generations.”
The officer explained, “All tribes in the area follow the system of community ‘panch’. Kheroj is mainly populated by the Dungari Bheels, who do not approach the police, government officials, or any organization in case there’s a dispute. They take the matter to the ‘panch’, an informal self-governing body of community elders, that decides on the penalty and helps the warring parties arrive at a compromise.”
The dispute between Harkha and Jetha’s families reached the police in January, nearly two months after the last incident of violence took place as it had turned into a medico-legal case, the officer said, adding: “The community elders had also failed to strike a compromise between the two families.”
Champa, who was attacked after Diwali, said, “My father-in-law, Luka, who is Harkha’s grandson, had paid money to close the ‘ver’ (blood money). Then, Vinod and Kanti also paid between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 to settle the dispute.
We have no clue what the initial dispute was all about. No one remembers. Yet, the fight continued to pass down the generations, and we must suffer by paying the ‘ver’ we did not incur.”
The officer said, “Even Jetha’s son, Bharat, and his grandson, Arvind, claim they have paid ‘ver’ between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000. The situation is such that none of them knows what the first fight was or the total amount of ‘ver’ accrued over the years. Yet, both families keep demanding money, attacking each other and incurring a further penalty.”
Yet, it has given rise to generational enmity as the members of both families continue to demand money from each other and attack each other over the issue.
The dispute dates to the 1960s when Harkha Rathod, a Dungari Bheel from Temba village in Poshina taluka, fought with fellow tribesman Jetha Rathod. A community court ruled that Harkha must pay Rs 300 to Jetha’s family.
Claiming the money had not been paid, Jetha’s family members attacked Harkha’s family members and vice versa. The court kept penalizing them, and they continued to remain in each other’s debt.
During Diwali last year, a community ‘panch’ of the Dungari Bheel (a tribe that lives in the mountains) revealed that Harkha’s family had accrued debt of Rs 25,000 in penalty. Since the money remained unpaid, Jetha’s two sons attacked Harkha’s grandson, Vinod, his wife, Champa, and their son, Kanti, in the first week of January.
A senior police officer from Kheroj said, “These are not the only two families that have accumulated financial debt over generations.”
The officer explained, “All tribes in the area follow the system of community ‘panch’. Kheroj is mainly populated by the Dungari Bheels, who do not approach the police, government officials, or any organization in case there’s a dispute. They take the matter to the ‘panch’, an informal self-governing body of community elders, that decides on the penalty and helps the warring parties arrive at a compromise.”
The dispute between Harkha and Jetha’s families reached the police in January, nearly two months after the last incident of violence took place as it had turned into a medico-legal case, the officer said, adding: “The community elders had also failed to strike a compromise between the two families.”
Champa, who was attacked after Diwali, said, “My father-in-law, Luka, who is Harkha’s grandson, had paid money to close the ‘ver’ (blood money). Then, Vinod and Kanti also paid between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 to settle the dispute.
We have no clue what the initial dispute was all about. No one remembers. Yet, the fight continued to pass down the generations, and we must suffer by paying the ‘ver’ we did not incur.”
The officer said, “Even Jetha’s son, Bharat, and his grandson, Arvind, claim they have paid ‘ver’ between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000. The situation is such that none of them knows what the first fight was or the total amount of ‘ver’ accrued over the years. Yet, both families keep demanding money, attacking each other and incurring a further penalty.”