The summary justice delivered by the assembly of the powerful in India’s villages and suburbs relate to matters both public and private. From the use of potable water to the use of women, this group could be sitting in judgment on any aspect of people’s lives. Its authority is hardly ever questioned, even by the state, whose effectiveness in such matters is severely compromised by individuals through whom the state exercises its power. As a part of the same patriarchal society, state officials are often unable to think or see things differently from what are regarded as established norms of behaviour.

• Jan 28, 2007, Durgapur: Twenty-year-old Lakshmi Soren, an adivasi girl, had married a Hindu boy, Gopi Mondol. Hearing this, village elders ordered Lakshmi’s family to organize her “shradh” to atone for her sins even though she was alive. Durgapur falls under Burdwan district, which has attained full literacy.

• Jan 10, Behrampore, Murshidabad: A middle-aged widow was raped by Nizam Sheikh, who was asked to pay Rs 2,000 to her by a shalishi court to settle the matter. Two panchayat members — CPI(M)’s Kalam Sheikh and the Congress’s Amjad Sheikh — were the chief judges at the shalishi. Kalam Sheikh felt that there is nothing wrong with the verdict. “What would she have gained by sending the rapist to jail?” he asked.

• September 05, 2006, Nadia: Twenty-two-year-old Safikul Mahaldar was caught after he tried to steal a cow. The shalishi meeting found Safikul guilty and sentenced him to death. Subsequently, villagers beat and hacked him to death. Around hundred people gathered to see the murder and continued to hurl abuses at the condemned man. Safikul’s body was later dumped in a paddy field.

• August 29, Murshidabad: Amita was accused by her husband, Baidyanath Hansda, of being untidy in her habits. Baidyanath wanted to divorce his teenage wife and was willing to pay her a sum of Rs 800 as compensation. Village elders agreed and asked the young woman to accept the verdict. Amita approached the local police station to file a complaint but the officers, at first, refused to take down her complaint and tried to pressure her to submit to the villagers’ demand. Amita was finally able to lodge a case six months later.

• May 30, Behrampore: Fourteen-year-old Akil Sheikh was seen talking to Rangeela Khatun, aged eleven, at the grocer’s. The girl’s father, Nurful Sheikh, informed the shalishi board that the boy had fallen in love with his daughter. The board then decided to marry off Rangeela to Akil. Sahabuddin Ahmed, the local secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) attended the meeting. “We ordered the marriage because the boy and the girl were having an affair,” said Ahmed.

• April 5, Nadia: A group of elderly women beat up Archana Mirdha, a mother of two sons, shaved off a part of her head and paraded her in that state for allegedly deserting her husband. A youth had promised Archana a job and had taken her to Mayapur, where she was sexually assaulted. Later, she was rescued by Ramani Mirdha, her husband. When Ramani returned to the village with Archana, the villagers accused her of “polluting” the atmosphere. A conciliatory meeting declared that Archana was guilty of fleeing with a married man, after which she was assaulted by the village women. “I could not do anything when they abused and tortured my wife. They would have driven us out of the village,” said Ramani.