Five suspects have been detained and investigations are ongoing
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Close on the heels of an incident of atrocities on Dalits by upper caste Hindus came to light in Chaurai village under the Jabalpur Naka Police Outpost in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh during a matrimonial alliance, a wedding procession of a Dalit constable was violently disrupted by a group of upper caste men in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh.
The latest episode occurred in Titona village in the Jahangirabad area of Bulandshahr on Sunday night. The attackers vandalised vehicles, pelted stones, and forcibly pulled the groom, Robin Singh, off his horse, leaving several guests injured.
Robin Singh, 31, a Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) constable posted in Ghaziabad, was marrying a fellow constable from Lakhawati. His father, Nandram Singh, described the attack, saying, “They objected to the baraat (wedding procession) passing through their area with DJ music. They pelted stones at us, forcibly pulled my son off the horse, and vandalised the DJ vehicle. Some guests sustained injuries in the attack,” a report in The Times of India said.
In Madhya Pradesh, a Dalit groom’s wedding celebration turned violent as the groom, seated in a chariot, faced backlash from some influential locals of the upper caste who disapproved of the practice. The group vandalised the chariot after the wedding, attacked the horse with sticks, and assaulted the chariot owner. The upper caste attackers had reportedly warned the buggy owner earlier, saying, “Dalits are not allowed to ride in a horse-drawn buggy.”
PAC constable Robin Singh added that some of the attackers had attended his engagement ceremony. “They misbehaved with women in the procession, saying a Dalit baraat should not pass through their area. The violence ruined all the excitement of the wedding,” The Times of India report quoted him as saying. The baraat was forced to retreat, and the groom eventually travelled by car to the bride’s house.
Rohit Mishra, SP (Rural), stated that the conflict arose over loud DJ music. An FIR has been filed under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including rioting, preventing free movement, causing hurt, and mischief, along with charges under the SC/ST Act. Five suspects have been detained, and investigations are ongoing.
