After heated deliberation, a Sarv Khap Mahapanchayat on Sunday ordered permanent expulsion of Ravinder Gehlot and his wife, who had married in violation of clan ‘rules’, from Dhrana village in Jhajjar district.

The decision is expected to end the 25-day deadlock between Kadiyan — to which Ravinder’s wife — and Gehlot khaps. Their wedding in July had allegedly violated a custom considered “sacrosanct”— that there can be no matrimony between the sects of Gehlot and Kadiyan as they are considered to have descended from the same ancestors.

The Kadiyan khap had asked Ravinder and his entire family to leave the village, which the latter had refused, leading to the deadlock. Members of the Kadiyan clan had been holding a sit-in near the couple’s house ever since, demanding their ouster from the village.

Sunday’s Mahapanchayat was held in a government school in Beri, where thousands of representatives from 54 khaps of Delhi and Haryana participated. After the day-long meeting, the Mahapanchayat announced that the couple would have to leave the village forever while Ravinder’s father Rohtash Singh would stay away from Dhrana for at least three months. The panchayat, which was presided over by Subhash Dahiya, also imposed a token fine on the two uncles of Ravinder.

Despite adequate measures taken to ensure a peaceful meeting, a clash broke out between members of the two khaps towards the end of the deliberations.