Jaipur, Nov 27: Ten people have been arrested for allegedly pelting stones at a Dalit wedding procession in Rajasthan's Jaipur district on Friday, November 26.

Police said the the incident took place shortly after 11pm when a baarat (wedding procession) had come to the house of one Haripal Balai in the village.

The bride's family members alleged that stone-pelting continued for 15 minutes despite 75 police officials deployed to provide them protection. Pune: Thieves Steal Jewellery Worth Rs 9.5 Lakh From Wedding Venues, Probe Underway

“It is not common in our village for Dalits to ride mare during wedding procession. I wanted to break this tradition of discrimination. Both my daughter and son are getting married this month. People from the Rajput community in our village often say that they won’t let us ride the mare. I suspected that there might be opposition and had submitted applications to the police and district administration requesting protection,” said Haripal Balai, the bride’s father.

Balai added that police officials and local politicians had even visited him on Thursday morning and had assured that no untoward incident would take place.

Balai said to The Indian Express “I remember one occasion some forty years back when I was a child, wherein stones were pelted on a procession of Dalits. I saw history repeat once again yesterday evening when despite the presence of police personnel, stones were pelted when my son-in-law reached the gate of our house riding the mare. There was a shower of stones. Some 10-15 people from our families got hit. My nephew had to get stitches. Those who pelted stones are from the Rajput community and most are my neighbours.”

He added that the attackers pelted stones taking cover behind bushes before running away.

“The stones were pelted because they couldn’t tolerate Dalits riding mares,” said Balai, who is in his late fifties.

Police said 10 people have been arrested. Rajasthan: Man Held for Selling ‘Bluetooth Slippers’ to REET Candidates at Rs 6 Lakh for Cheating in Exams

“We have arrested 10 people who are from the Rajput community. We had deployed 75 police personnel at the spot. The attack was sudden and lasted only seconds with the attackers using the bush and trees as cover. Three people have been injured. The family has filed an FIR naming 18 people. Of the 10 arrested, six are those who were named while the involvement of others was revealed in our investigation,” said Dinesh Kumar Yadav, circle officer, Kotputli.

He added that an FIR has been registered under IPC sections 323(punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 341(punishment for wrongful restraint) along with sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 27, 2021 04:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).