Wedding procession attacked by upper caste men, one held

THE ACCUSED UPPER CASTE MEN OBJECTED TO A DALIT FAMILY TAKING OUT A BARAAT WITH POMP AND FLAIR

A Dalit groom and other members of a ‘baraat’ procession were beaten up by a few upper caste men for taking out his wedding procession with pomp and celebrations in Bundelkhand’s Chhatarpur district, nearly 331km from Bhopal.

Five baraatis were injured. Police have lodged a case against the four accused and arrested one of them, while three others are absconding.

The incident occurred at Dehri village under Orcha Road police station in Chhatarpur around midnight on Friday.

Orcha Road police station officer Rameshwar Dayal said on Friday night, Basanta Basor from Scheduled Caste community was to marry Prakash Basor of Maharajpur at Dehri village.

“The baraat was scheduled to arrive around 11pm. The procession started with groom in a ‘morgadi’ (jeep with peacock shaped decoration). On the way, the four accused — Prithvi Raj Singh Thakur, Arvind Singh Thakur, Akhandh Pratap Singh Thakur and Pinto Viswakarma — picked up a fight with the ‘baraat’ photographer and some other participants. They objected to the way the family was celebrating the wedding, especially with the groom in the ‘morgadi’ as no other member of the community dares to do so,” said Dayal.

He said the accused started beating up some members of the baraat and broke the camera and threatened others. “The police waited there till morning till the ceremony was over,” the police officer said.

Five baraatis, including the photographer, were injured in the incident. The injured were sent to the district hospital for medical examination.

The police have lodged a case against the four accused. Prithvi Raj Singh Thakur was arrested.