Gujarat: Stone pelting at Dalit Army man’s wedding procession because he rode a mare

Dalit Army man’s wedding procession has been pelted with stones by a group of people from another community in Banaskantha district, Gujarat, just because he rode a mare, a report in The Indian Express stated.

According to the police, the incident took place around 11 am at Sharifda village when the marriage procession of Akash Kumar Koitiya (22), a jawan with the military police wing of the Army, started. Koitiya recently finished his training in Bengaluru and was about jo join his post in Meerut. He was on leave for his marriage, according to The Indian Express.

“The groom and his procession were attacked with stones by a group in the village who objected to him riding a mare. We provided security in advance and after the incident, more personnel were deployed. We have booked 11 accused under Indian Penal Code sections 323 (assault), 337 (causing hurt by rash act) 294 (obscenity), 506 (criminal intimidation) 147 (rioting) and 148 (rioting with deadly weapon) along with sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities Act),” said P G Rajput, officer in charge of Gadh police station, according to The Indian Express.

No arrests have been made yet, police said.

The Indian Express quoted Vijay Koitiya, the elder brother of Akash as saying, “Earlier, we received threats from a few people from the Thakor Koli community that they would not allow the procession to pass through the village if the groom rode a mare. We gave a written request for police security after which 6-7 police personnel were deployed to accompany the wedding procession. However, after the procession started moving, a group of people started throwing stones. The groom narrowly escaped an injury and was taken to the police control room van. However, three of our relatives, including two women, were injured in the stone-pelting.”

Vijay Koitiya is himself an Army Jawan posted in Jammu and Kashmir.

After the incident, multiple police team reportedly rushed to the village.

The Indian Express quoted Dalpat Bhatia, a Dalit rights activist based in Banaskantha as saying, “At least 50-60 policemen joined the wedding procession as security convoy so that the groom and other baratis could reach the bride’s village, Sundha, in Palanpur taluka. The wedding went on without any incident.”

An FIR has been filed at Gadh police station in Banaskantha against 11 people belonging to the Thakor Koli community after a complaint was lodged by the groom’s family.

According to The Indian Express, accused have been identified as Senji Koli, Shivaji Koli, Deepak Koli, Tushar Koli, Bhavan Koli, Vinod Koli, Ramaji Koli, Deepak Ishwar Koli, Bai Koli, Manju Koli and Jeetu Koli.