The term panchayat literally means a council of five persons. A caste panchayat refers to a group of elders from a particular dominant or high-caste community in India who position themselves as custodians of caste purity and hierarchy. They often intervene in cases of inter-caste marriages, declaring such unions invalid and imposing penalties on the families involved. In many instances, caste panchayats go beyond social and economic sanctions and resort to violent measures to prevent or punish inter-caste marriages, reinforcing rigid caste boundaries and patriarchal control.
