AGRA: A case was registered against three men for allegedly hitting a Dalit groom with the butt of a pistol and threatening to kill him if he did not dismount his horse and walk to the wedding venue.
The accused also hurled casteist slurs and threatened to forcibly disperse the wedding procession, following which the groom and the baratis started walking, with their band following silently.
According to the complaint filed by 22-year-old groom Vishal Nigam’s father, Mukesh Nigam, the accused, upon noticing the portraits of Dr BR Ambedkar and Gautam Buddha in the procession, turned hostile and shattered the glass frames of the pictures.
In the police complaint, groom’s father Mukesh Nigam alleged that the accused also attacked Vishal’s grandfather Gyan Singh, 70, when he tried to intervene.
Though the incident happened on March 6, an FIR was registered on March 10 against Vishnu Sharma and two others under BNS sections 115 (2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provokebreach of peace), 351 (1) (criminal intimidation), 324 (mischief) and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Vishal’s wedding procession was passing through Azizpur area in Dhanoli town under Malpura police station of Agra district when the accused’s vehicle honked for passage. Enraged at being stuck, the accused stepped out of their vehicle, brandishing a gun and hurling abuses.
Saiyyan assistant commissioner of police (ACP ) Devesh Singh said, “I came to know about the complaint on March 10, following which an FIR was lodged.”