Lucknow, July 16: Amid an unprecedented security arrangement, a Dalit groom of Hathras district on Sunday took out his wedding procession (baraat) through Thakur-dominated Nizampur village of Kasganj district in Uttar Pradesh. Sanjay Jatav, the Dalit groom, passed via houses of Thakurs in the village on a horse-drawn buggy.

Jatav was granted permission to take his wedding procession through Nizampur village in April after the district administration managed to broker peace between the lower caste family and Thakurs. “Neither my community nor I was against local Thakurs, but we were against the indiscrimination on the basis of caste," the newly-wed groom told TOI.

Kasganj police personnel escorted Jatav as soon as he entered from the border of the district. “Over 350 police personnel from six police stations along with PAC jawans accompanied by an ASP and two circle officers provided security to the Dalit family during the wedding procession," Kasganj sub-divisional magistrate Devendra Pratap Singh said.

Additional district magistrate Rakesh Kumar, SDM Devendra Pratap Singh and naib tehsildar Kirti Chaudhary, too, were present to avoid any unwarranted incident. Local police kept close tabs on the villagers’ movement and guests attending the marriage were checked by metal detectors. The entire village was turned into a fortress.

"All the upper caste families had either locked themselves up inside their houses or had left the village for a day due to the presence of heavy police force. The baraat took a tour of the village on the pre-decided route which passed via houses of Thakurs," Sunil Singh, a resident of Nizampur village, was quoted as saying.

It all began when the dominant Thakur community had refused to allow the wedding procession of Jatav, saying it was against the traditions. The wedding procession had become a matter of honour. However, the district magistrate later managed to broker peace between the two communities.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2018 08:54 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).