60 jawans of Quick Reaction Team and police personnel stood guard as the baarat proceeded.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — A Dalit groom’s wedding procession was taken out under tight security in Govinddaspur village of Jhunjhunu district, after threats from locals, police said.
According to media reports, Over 60 jawans of Quick Reaction Team and police personnel stood guard as the baarat was taken out in the village with the groom Rakesh riding a mare while holding a framed portrait of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar.
“We received a complaint that Rakesh was threatened with violence if he sat on a mare for his baarat,” said Mehara police station in-charge Bhajanram. “We detained several people and ensured the procession took place peacefully,” Observer Post quoted Police as saying.
Rakesh reportedly was threatened of dire consequences if he sat on the mare for the baarat procession.
Rakesh’s family said some upper-caste youth threatened them, warning Rakesh not to sit on the mare.
Determined not to bow down to social oppression, Rakeshs family sought help from local authorities. In response, the district administration deployed 60 policemen, including senior officers, to ensure the baarat proceeded without any untoward incident.
Officers from Mehara, Khetri, Khetri Nagar, and Babai police stations were deployed for security and to maintain law and order. Bhim Army district president Vikas Aalha and state secretary Ravi Marodiya were also present to support the family.
“I was scared, but I was determined to take my baarat with pride,” Rakesh said.
In December last year, a Dalit groom was forced off the mare and stones thrown at his wedding procession as it was passing through a upper-caste neighbourhood in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district.
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 alleged 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.
“Such incidents show how Dalits are still fighting for their dignity,” said Ravi Marodiya of the Bhim Army.
