Gujarat: Dalit groom assaulted for riding horse during wedding, told to 'stay within limits'

Ahmedabad: The Kalol police in Gandhinagar district rounded up four persons for allegedly assaulting and restraining a dalit groom for riding horse in his wedding procession.

The incident occurred on Monday afternoon during the wedding procession at Chanasma village in Mansa taluka of Gandhinagar district. The accused have been booked for voluntarily causing (IPC 323), wrong restraint (IPC 341), criminal intimidation (IPC 506-2) and sections of atrocity act.

The accused have been identified as Shailesh Thakor, Jayeshkumar Jivanji Thakor, Samirkumar Dineshji Thakor and Ashwiin Kumar Thakor. They may not be arrested since the sections attract less than seven years of jail if proven guilty in the trial. The accused are from Thakor community, which considers itself as Kshtriya and classified as Other Backward Community.

The FIR has been filed by Sanjay Chavda, the nephew of Kanhaiyalal Chavda whose son Vikas was getting married.

The FIR states that there were about 100 people in the wedding procession on the way to bride Chandani's house when one of the accused reached the spot on a motorcycle. He approached Vikas, who was on the horse, and tried to pull him down by holding his collar.

A video surfaced on Tuesday purportedly shows the accused pulling Vikas down from the horse.

According to the FIR, the accused said while hurling abuses, "You stay in your limits...you can't ride a horse. Don't you know the tradition of the village? You have to seek permission from us and only Thakors can ride horses."

While others were trying to reason with him, three other persons came and started hurling abuses at the groom and others. One of the accused slapped one Yogesh Chavda. The four accused chased the horse owner and the man who was playing the DJ sound away by threatening them.

When contacted, the complainant Sanjay Chavda told DH, "The wedding procession had just started when the assault happened. We were humiliated so much that I can describe. Ultimately, we had to take the groom in the car to the bride's house. We also called up the police who came and the ceremony was performed."