Dalit groom prevented from entering temple

A Dalit groom and his relatives were allegedly stopped by upper caste men from entering a temple which he visited just before his wedding to seek divine blessings.

The incident took place at Makanpur Sumali village in Amroha district when the groom, Shobhit Jatav, was on his way to the temple to worship just before the departure of his 'baraat'.

According to the villagers, this is for the first time that such an incident has happened in the area and there is tension in the area.

The groom's father, who later filed an FIR, said: "Not only their path was blocked, miscreants even tried to snatch the garland of currency notes and a ring of the groom."

The police have filed a case against four persons, including Ram Avatar Singh, Ram Nivas, Bunty and Ankit, and others of the same village who are accused of stopping the groom and his family members from entering the temple located in the village.

Hasanpur Station House Officer (SHO) Sanjay Pratap Singh said: "Police have registered a case against the accused under section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of IPC and two persons have been detained in this connection."

Police, however, said that it was mainly a dispute between two families, which should not be seen as an incident of caste violence.

The SHO said: "It is not caste violence but a discord between two families. The discord was developed between two families of Jatavs and Chauhans. Two days before the wedding, people from both the sides had confronted each other during a music programme. This led to a clash on Monday.

"The house of the accused is close to the temple. When Shobhit was going to worship there before his baraat's departure, around four persons tried to thrash him. There was a scuffle between both the groups."

Later on Tuesday, the bride and groom visited the temple in the presence of policemen.

Amroha Superintendent of Police Vipin Tada said: "I have instructed local police to keep a strict vigil on the situation. A probe is on in the matter."

--IANS

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