Meerut, July 17, 2021 (PPI-OT):Fearing for his life from upper caste Hindus, a groom belonging to Dality community took police protection for taking his baraat on a horse to the bride’s village.

A Dalit groom in Meerut who said his family faced threats from upper caste men in his village was able to ride a horse during his wedding procession after police provided him security. The family breathed a sigh of relief as the ‘ghudchadi’ ceremony — in which the groom initiates the baraat on his horse — passed without incident and the procession made its way to the bride’s village nearby.

Mangeram, father of the groom, had approached Sardhana Police Station in his village of Maanpuri and complained that an upper caste family had threatened “to kill his son, Sooraj, if he dared to ride a horse”. The family had then sought police cover, citing previous incidents where Dalit youths had been stopped from riding a horse in their village.

Brother of the groom, Ankit, told media that caste-based violence had happened in the region previously. “The same family had thrashed us earlier when we were building our house and were using the road to keep construction material. The upper castes have objected to our festivities many times,” he said.

Dalit weddings have often been interrupted by upper castes over grooms from the community riding a horse or taking their baraat through public spaces. In 2018, a 27-yr-old Dalit man had fought a two-month battle to take his baraat through the Thakur-dominated village in Kasganj district.

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