By Aliza Noor
Imagine it’s your wedding day. In the spirit of celebration, a procession is taken out as per the usual customs but instead of reaching your the venue dancing away, you’re attacked, humiliated and your belongings are vandalised.
This is what many Dalit grooms in India face during their wedding processions. For instance, take Vishal’s case.
When Vishal’s wedding procession was positioned on Azizpur road in Agra, going towards Seva Sadan, a group of 3-4 men, on the pretext of clearing the way for their car, started hurling casteist abuses at the groom and the procession.
“The men saw photos of BR Ambedkar and Gautam Buddha and got infuriated. They said, ‘Ch*m*ars cannot take out their wedding procession here’ and they beat the groom. They hit him with the back of the gun on his head and broke the glasses of the photos as well.”
This is what Vishal’s father Mukesh claimed in the FIR that was filed on 10 March in Malpura police station, four days later after the incident took place.
When The Quint called ACP Devesh Singh, he said, “We can’t tell you anything, we will only answer to the court regarding this issue. You also don’t have the right to ask in middle of the probe.”
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.