Ghaziabad, May 11 (IANS) Police acted as the mediator as members of a tribal community ended a wedding engagement at a police station here -- by ceremonially cutting wood with a chopper.
Police officer Anju Teotia said her force oversaw the traditional tribal method of ending an engagement and thus helped end a conflict between two families on a peaceful note.
"The police played the role of a mediator to avoid a bloody conflict between over 200 persons of Sahnsi community," said Teotia, Station House Officer of an all-women police station here.
It all began when a girl's family from Ghaziabad complained that a boy to whom their daughter was engaged suffered from a chronic disease which cannot be treated.
This triggered a conflict. Things may have gone out of hand but elders in the community, whose members are often blamed for crime, intervened.
Teotia said that on Tuesday the police called both the families to the police station.
But some 200 tribals came, a few armed with wooden rods and choppers. The police station had just six personnel.
"It was a worrying issue for us," said Teotia.
But after an hour's allegations and counter-allegations, a compromise was reached.
To give a final seal to it, a group of young men from among both sides went to the open space in front of the police station.
They placed wood on the ground and cut it thrice with a chopper while taking the names of the prospective groom and bride.
After the final stroke, they shouted: "Now there is no relation between them. They are free to choose their life partner."
