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Dalit wedding procession stopped in Sabarkantha; members of another community object to loud music and groom riding a horse


Another stand-off between members of two communities took place in Gujarat on Sunday, three days after two other incidents of caste-based violence during marriages were from Sabarkantha and Mehsana districts.

In the incident that took place in Sitvada village of Sabarkantha on Sunday morning, members of another community waylaid the procession of the groom Ramesh Rathod, 22, insisting the horse not be used and protested loud music being played.



While the police immediately arrived on the scene, the incident led to the DJ running away and having to be coaxed back to the marriage procession while the family abandoned the idea of using the horse. Instead, Ramesh was taken to the next village to meet his bride in a decorated car as directed by the Superintendent of Police (SP) CR Mandlik. Mandlik said, "There was a misunderstanding over the loud music where some youths asked the family to turn down the volume. Meanwhile the DJ, frightened by the incident, left the spot. Finally, he was called back and the procession resumed." No police complaint was filed in the matter.

Two incidents on May 9


Sanjay Rathod, a police constable from Boriya village in Sabarkantha, faced the same problem two days ago and had to go to his wedding venue under police security. Same day another such incident occurred in Mehsana, where Mehul Parmar of Lhor village in Kadi, faced boycott along with all members of the Dalit community as he was riding a horse to his wedding.

In Modasa of Arvalli district too, the marriage procession of a groom from a scheduled caste was not allowed to proceed by people who first began a yagna on the road and then women began 'Ramdhun' further down the route of the procession. At this point, clashes broke out between the two groups, forcing the police to lathi-charge.

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