Dalit Groom In UP Forced Off Horse, Stones Thrown At Baraat, 5 Arrested

A Dalit groom was forced off the horse and stones were thrown at his wedding procession it was passing through a so-called upper-caste neighbourhood in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district last week.

Robin Singh, a police constable, was on his way to the bride's home on December 11 when a group of men seized the horse by the reins and forced him down, the family has said in its complaint. They threw stones and harassed the women in the wedding party. The accused also damaged the music system and a DJ was injured in the stone-pelting, according to the complaint by the groom's father Nandram Singh.

The complaint says that all the attackers were from Thakur and Rajput communities and that they made casteist remarks targeting the groom and the wedding party or baraat. Police have registered an FIR and arrested five people.

"On December 11, when my son rode the horse and passed through a Thakur neighbourhood, some people forced him off the horse, threw stones at the DJ system and stopped him from getting on the horse. We somehow managed to escape. They misbehaved with the women," he told the media. Mr Singh said he had called police during the incident and a police team reached the spot shortly after. "We reached the wedding event at 11.30 pm. The next day, I filed a police complaint. Five people have been arrested. I am satisfied with the police officers' action," he said.

Rohit Mishra, police chief for Bulandshahr Rural, said the altercation broke out over the high volume of music played during the wedding procession. "Someone threw a stone and the music system was damaged. This led to a fight. One side has filed a complaint and a case has been registered under relevant sections," he said. Asked about the caste angle to the crime, the police officer said, "We have registered an FIR and an investigation is on. All these angles will be probed."

According to a report in The Times of India, Robin has said some of the attackers attended his engagement ceremony. "I recognised a few of them from my engagement. They misbehaved with women in the procession, saying a Dalit baraat should not pass through their area. They also thrashed the DJ and destroyed equipment. We had to return home with the baraat and later went by car to the bride's house. All the excitement of the wedding was ruined. Everything was planned, but it all went to waste due to this violence," he said.

The FIR has been filed under several sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including those related to rioting and voluntarily causing hurt. Charges under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been invoked.

Inputs by Sameer Ali