GS PAPER 4 ETHICS & INTEGRITY

Q.4) – You are posted in some part of the country as the superintendent of police. A lower caste engineer boy married a higher caste teacher girl in a highly patriarchal and stratified society in your area. In the rage of anger and outrage the patriarchs call meeting of panchayat and decide to punish the couple and severely punish the boy to teach a lesson to lower caste so that such incident would not be repeated in future. Knowing this the couple rushes to your office for protection from the members of upper caste, some of whom chased them to the SP office. Your office has been gheraoed by upper caste people and they demanded handing over the couple for action decided by the Panchayat. Given below are some alternatives before you:

(i) You will hand over the couple to the crowed and leave their fate on the rationality of the panchayat members.
(ii) You will protect the couple and persuade them to respect and accept the caste based system of marriage; separate and say sorry publicly in Panchayat with a legal statement that they will never meet again.
(iii) You will keep the couple under police protection and try to pacify the crowed and persuade them to allow the two adults to decide about their lives on their own.

(a) Disucss the merits and demerits of each alternative?
(b) Which is the best thing/ best course of action to do for the police officer in this case? Give reasons for your answer. (250 words) (20 marks)