Dalit groom forced to get down from horse in U’khand, probe on

A Dalit man was allegedly forced to dismount from a horse during his wedding procession in Uttarakhand’s Almora district, prompting the district administration to order a probe to verify the complaint, senior officials said on Wednesday.

According to district officials, the incident took place on Monday and the groom’s father Darshan Lal, a resident of Thala Tariyal village , handed over a complaint to sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) on Tuesday. In his complaint, Lal alleged that some villagers stopped his son Vikram Kumar’s wedding procession and forced him to dismount from the horse as he belonged to the Dalit community, officials added. The groom’s father also alleged that the villagers threatened to kill his son and hurled casteist slurs, officials said quoting from the complaint.

Almora district magistrate Vandana Singh has set up an inquiry into the incident. “Strict action will be taken if the complaint is found genuine,” said the DM.

Salt SDM Gaurav Pandey said officials have been sent to the spot for inquiry. “Since the village is under revenue police, I have sent Naib tehsildar and other revenue officials to the spot for the inquiry,” said Pandey. Late in the evening , the revenue police registered an FIR on the complaint of groom’s father against six persons under sections 504(intentional insult) and 506(criminal intimidation) of the IPC and relevant sections of the SC/ST (prevention of atrocities) Act have been slapped against the accused, said the SDM.

The head of the village, however, refuted the allegations. “We have an old tradition that at a particular place near the temple of Bhumiya Devta (a local deity), no one, irrespective of their caste, passes through sitting on the horse. Villagers had requested the groom’s family to follow the tradition, but they refused,” said Vijay Dhyani, head of the village.