Dalit groom ‘pulled off chariot over DJ music’ in Mathura | Agra News

AGRA: A Dalit groom was allegedly dragged off his cha-riot and several wedding gu-ests were assaulted after a group of upper caste men at-tacked a wedding procession with DJ in Bhureka village of Mathura district, police said.The accused, allegedly enraged by the choice of mu-sic played by the DJ, and a ‘rath’, also issued death thre-ats to the groom and other guests if the procession con-tinued. DSP (Mant) Gunjan Singh, said an FIR has been filed and an investigation was underway. She, however, denied that the groom was forcibly pulled off.

In his complaint to the po lice, the bride’s uncle, Puran Singh, named Krishna, Manish Kumar and Ankur all residents of Navali in Mathura as the main accused. He said, “Around 12.30pm on Wednesday, the three, along with 20-25 unidentified men, stopped the procession, hurled casteist slurs, and assaulted our family members with sticks. They asked us how we could dare to take out a wedding procession with a DJ and a rath in front of us. They pulled the groom off the buggy, stopped the DJ and told us they’d kill us if the procession wasn’t stop-ped. I called number 112 and police came to ensure proces-sion continued peacefully The wedding ceremony was later held at the banquet hall under police protection.”However, the mob allegedly returned on Thursday morning at around 8am on motorcycles, armed with sticks, pistols, and knives. They stormed the house and assaulted several members of the groom’s family. Singh said, “They abused them with casteist slurs and beat them up. They tore the wo men’s clothes and vandali-sed household items, inclu-ding cots and a motorcycle.”Another police officer said, “A case has been registered at Naujheel police station under several provisions, including BNS Section 191-2 (rioting) and the SC/ST Act. Other applicable sections include BNS 76 (as-sault or use of criminal force on a woman with the intent to disrobe or compel her to be naked) and 333 (house trespass after preparation for causing harm, assault, or wrongful restraint).”Similar caste-based at-tacks were reported in the district. In March, three men were charged for assaulting a Dalit groom and threate-ning to kill him if he didn’t dismount his horse. They allegedly hurled casteist slurs and smashed portraits of Dr BR Ambedkar and Gautam Buddha displayed in the pro-cession. According to the complaint, the groom and the baraatis were forced to walk while the band followed in silence.On April 16, another Dalit groom was allegedly pulled off his mare and thrashed by upper-caste men for playing loud music near their ho-mes. Armed with sticks and sharp weapons, the attack-ers injured several guests, including women and children. The baraatis switched off the music and lights and rushed to the venue in fear