After a year of determined struggle, Durga Gudilu, 22, has won the fight to save her sister from a marriage decided by a Vaidu caste panchayat here.
Ms. Gudilu succeeded in changing the minds of the panchayat members, all men, and on Sunday, they dissolved the panchayat to form a development panel instead, for the social uplift of the community.
“I opposed my sister’s marriage which was decided when she was born,” Ms. Gudilu told The Hindu . “Our parents educated us and we grew up in Mumbai. My graduate sister didn’t want to marry an uneducated man. That was her choice, and I supported her.” Ms. Gudilu’s family faced a social boycott. A woman of the socially and educationally backward community challenging the panchayat’s order was unheard of until then.
Ms. Gudilu approached her friends for help. “My parents were so scared to speak against the panchayat that they even threatened to kill themselves,” she said.
The Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANIS), founded by >Narendra Dabholkar , the rationalist who was murdered, helped Ms. Gudilu. “We decided to hold discussions with senior panchayat members. Many were unaware of the fact that their work pronouncing punishments or deciding child marriages was unconstitutional,” said Krushna Chandgude of MANIS.
Swami Vaidu, a panchayat leader, said the decision to scrap the panchayat was in keeping with the changing times.
