Family that stood up to Virar khap living out of autorickshaw

A 50yearold whistleblower Umesh Vaity who dared to stand up against the illegal parallel administration at Chikhal Dongri village in Virar West has been on the run along with his family members for the past five days fearing an attack by members of the caste panchayatWorried for his life and safety Vaity narrowly escaped from the village along with his wife two adult daughters and a son in his autorickshaw in the middle of the night on November 4 and since then he has been roaming aimlessly pining hope on the police to begin the crackdown and arrest the accusedHowever the cops are yet to begin a crackdown on the illegal administrative setup which is extorting money from innocent villagers controlling the personal and social behaviour of villagers etcVillagers attend the meeting organised by the police and the politiciansVisibly terrified Vaity met this correspondent along with his family members to discuss his ordeal at length Both of his daughters were timidly silent ldquoHad I not fled I would have been lynched along with my family members as the selfproclaimed panchayat members were not happy after I dialled the police emergency number to seek helprdquo Vaity told middayLakhs of rupees were extorted from him by the caste panchayat in the last few years claims Vaity ldquoThey decide which religious gurus we should follow In case anyone doesnrsquot agree they impose a huge finerdquo he addedVaity said that his sister had already been ostracised and had been banned from entering the village ldquoRecently she was unwell So I went to see my ailing sister along with my younger daughter in Kalyan When I came back the caste panchayat people called me and imposed a Rs 50000 fine on us And when I failed to pay the fine on time they added interest to the fine and asked for Rs 110 lakhrdquo recalled VaityThe panchayat members have moles in the village to pass on tips about the movement of any dissenter ldquoI am aware that Jagdish Mhatre informed panchayat members that I had gone to meet my sister The panchayat members awarded Mhatre Rs 10000 for the tipsrdquo Vaity told middayIn the past panchayat members had also snatched the key to his autorickshaw when he had failed to pay them the socalled monetary fine ldquoI had to sell off my wifersquos mangalsutra and pay Rs 27500 to them and in return they gave me a bogus receipt and returned my autorickshaw keyrdquo he added Vaityrsquos wife Rameshwari said In the past they had also snapped water as well as electricity connections at our home And these utilities were restored only after we paid them the finerdquoWhen asked why he did not approach local police in the past to complain Vaity said ldquoI had thought not to mess with them as they ransack your house burn it down assault you mercilessly in public and do many other horrible things that I cant even recallrdquoldquoBut on November 4 everything went beyond my tolerance level and I decided to complaint to the police The cops came in 15 minutes after I dialled the police emergency number But the panchayat members engaged the cops in discussion and simultaneously others were trying to enter my house to assault me So I had no other option than to escape from the village along with my familyrdquo he recalledAvinash Koshti tahsildar Vasai taluka Pics Hanif PatelldquoI have learned that the cops have registered an FIR against the caste panchayat members Arnala police called me a few days ago and recorded my statement I requested that they help me but the cops have not taken any action on the FIR They have not arrested anyone till daterdquo Vaity told middayldquoWhen I requested police to give me protection in the village the cops at Arnala police station told me that if he gave me two policemen to guard me they would assault the cops and later the caste panchayat people would attack me and my family members They have asked me to wait but for how many days will I be roaming on the road and sleeping in the autorickshaw with my family members I need justicerdquo he addedWe are all completely terrified I recently got to know that the caste panchayat people had reached Arnala village at the house of Mangla and Keval Vaity to search for merdquo he added Like Vaity there are many other families from the castepanchayatdominated village who are scared to enter fearing a threat to their livesArnala police stationAfter middayrsquos coverpage story the Palghar district administration swung into action and reached the village on Thursday evening to meet the villagers Local politicians too did not miss the opportunity to make a beeline to the village Sources in the village told midday that local residents were asked to keep their mobiles at home and attend the meeting at a temple where a large number of people as well as caste panchayat members reached on Thursday eveningTalking to midday the tahsildar of Vasai taluka Avinash Koshti said ldquoAfter the story was published in midday the administration had to check the ground reality So in the presence of local police and local politicians we conducted a meeting in the village where nearly 1000 people were present We told the villagers that they needed to repose faith in the legal system and asked them to abolish this illegal practice of caste panchayat The meeting started around 530 pm and ended at 7 pmrdquoldquoI think the local residents have agreed to it and will live together happilyrdquo Koshti said Meanwhile a senior official from MBVV police said ldquoRestoration of harmony in the village is more important at this point in time Rest assured all those who are afraid to enter the village due to the atrocities of the caste panchayat will soon start living happily We are working on it and simultaneously the law will take its own courserdquoRs 110 lakhAmount of fine panchayat asked Vaity to pay