A self-appointed village committee in Nadia district allegedly slapped a fine of Rs 10 lakh on a poor farmer couple from a backward community and ostracised them after their daughter eloped to marry a Muslim youth.

The village committee, consisting mostly of local BJP workers, organised the meeting on March 19 and “convicted” the girl’s parents for bringing “shame” to the village.

To ensure that the family was ostracised, the village committee fenced off their home with bamboo poles. The family, which earns barely Rs 10,000 a month, has been barred from moving beyond the fencing until they pay Rs 10 lakh. A deadline of 15 days from the day of the meeting was set to pay the fine. If the money doesn’t come, the family will be “evicted” from the village.

The girl’s father, a 46-year-old BJP worker and farmer, does not know how to pay the fine.

He, his wife, their jobless son and his elderly parents are living in forced “exile”.

Warned of dire consequences if they informed police or any outsider, the family kept the ordeal to themselves for days. But on Sunday night, the father got in touch with a lawyer and with her support mailed complaints to the Nadia district magistrate, the police superintendent of Krishnagar police district, the local police and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, naming 10 persons responsible for their ordeal.

Krishnagar SP Ishani Paul claimed ignorance. “No such complaint has been received.... If any such incident has occurred, it will be probed,” she said.

Trouble began for the BJP activist when his minor daughter escaped to marry a Muslim youth. She was brought back home but she escaped again. The girl’s act angered the villagers of the BJP-dominated locality.

The father downplayed the political angle. “I did not accept my daughter’s marriage as she is a minor. But I am helpless. I cannot understand why my neighbours decided to punish us,” he told The Telegraph.

“On March 19, some influential villagers summoned me to attend a meeting to discuss the consequences of my daughter’s marriage to a Muslim youth. There, they announced I have to pay Rs10 lakh in 15 days as punishment,” he said.

“Two days later some residents put up a fence around our home and ordered us not to step out till we pay the fine. They said consequences would be dire if any of us crosses the fence to meet anyone or visit the local shop,” he added.

Lawyer Arpita Biswas, who helped the family, said: “The act of a self-appointed village committee is a cognisable offence and the police should immediately start a case and arrest the accused. Such an incident has no place in civilised society.”