UP Wedding Hall Owner Cancels Dalit Groom's Reservation, Charged: Cops

The owner of a marriage hall in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut was booked for allegedly cancelling a reservation after realising that the groom was a Dalit.

The hall owner, Raees Abbasi, refuted the allegations while police assured the family that the wedding will take place at the venue.

Circle Officer of the area, Ruchita Chaudhary, said, "A local resident, one Jaideep, had booked the hall of Raees Abbasi for the marriage of his sister scheduled for April 9."

"When Abbasi came to know that the groom is a Valmiki (Scheduled Caste community), he informed me that the reservation has been cancelled and I should look for another venue," Jaideep said in his complaint.

According to Chaudhary, an FIR against Mr Abbasi was lodged at the Khar Khauda police station.

"We have also assured the family members of Jaideep that the marriage will take place at the same venue. We are in talks with the management of the marriage hall," said the officer.

Mr Abbasi said he did not cancel the booking but was averse to the cooking of non-vegetarian food at the venue.

"I only opposed the cooking of non-vegetarian food at the venue. I neither said any caste-related thing to anyone nor was the booking cancelled," he told PTI.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)