On Wednesday, a Dalit man was set to marry his bride in Agra when on the way he was assaulted by some “upper caste” Hindus in Sohalla Jatav Basti. He was forced to get off the mare as stated in a complaint filed by his mother-in-law Geeta Jatav. The Agra Sadar Bazar police station has booked 25 persons; however, no arrests have been made yet.
As per the complaint when the wedding procession was passing through the area, 20-25 “upper caste” men came armed with iron rods, forced the groom to get off the mare and thrashed him. “Dalit grooms do not go to their marriage on a mare in our village, how dare you?” they said.
Moreover, when other Dalits came forward to help the groom, they were also beaten, and the culprits even molested some Dalit women. Further, they cut the power supply to Radha Krishna Marriage Hall, where the marriage was to take place. Yogesh Thakur, Rahul Kumar, Sonu Thakur, Kunal and Shishupal have been booked along with 20 unidentified men under sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, reported The Indian Express.
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