Dalit Marriage Party "Stopped From Entering Temple, Assaulted", 4 held

Upper caste men allegedly stopped a Dalit groom and others in a marriage party from entering a temple and assaulted them at a tribal-dominated area in Madhya Pradesh's Indore district.

Following a complaint by the groom's father, an FIR has been filed at Manpur police station under the IPC and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and four people out of the nine named accused have been arrested.

According to the complaint by the groom's father Omprakash, the marriage party had decided to stop at a temple on their way to the wedding ceremony. On approaching the temple, the accused stopped the cars in which the groom Vikas Kalmodiya and others were travelling and used force to prevent them from entering the temple, the complaint says.

The complainant has also alleged that the upper caste men used casteist slurs and assaulted people in the marriage party. He has said that he suffered injuries on his back and that their religious sentiments have been hurt in the incident.

Subdivisional Police Officer, Mhow, Vinod Sharma said the case has been lodged under sections 341, 323, 506, 153-A, 295-A, and 147 of the IPC and provisions of SC/ST Atrocities Act and four people have been arrested and sent to jail. The FIR names 9 accused and mentions an unidentified accused.

According to police, villagers have claimed that the groom had performed puja at the temple and a few people in the marriage party were stopped from entering because they were drunk.

Later, the marriage party performed puja in the presence of police and the wedding also took place under police security.