New Delhi:
Amidst a number of incidents of "honour killings," the Supreme Court has stayed the criminal trial proceedings initiated against a boy belonging to Haryana's powerful Jat community allegedly by the in-laws opposed to the marriage.
The boy Praveen Kumar and his wife Meenakshi, who were earlier staying in Australia, have approached the Supreme Court seeking police protection as they feared threat to their
lives from the girl's family.
"There will be a stay on further proceedings in Transfer Case 17 of 2010, (State vs. Praveen) pending in the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kurukshetra (Haryana), a bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and Cyriac Joseph said in an order while issuing a notice to Haryana Government.
The couple had sought transfer of the trial relating to a criminal case allegedly foisted by the girl's father Ramesh Chand against Praveen as the two had on May 25, 2009, married against the latter's wishes at the Arya Samaj Mandir in Delhi.
According to the petition filed through counsel Jetendra Singh, the girl's family members were opposed to the marriage as Praveen was the son of Meenakshi's cousin sister and threatened to kill him if they went ahead with the marriage.
Despite the threat, the couple got married and settled in Australia. But Meenakshi's father withdrew the "guarantee" given in her passport, which forced the couple to return to India, the petition claimed.
Thereafter, it was alleged that Ramesh Chand got a criminal case registered against Praveen at a police station in Haryana accusing him of indulging in illegal immigration, after which police had filed the chargesheet in the CJM's court Kurukshetra.