Dalit groom attacked in Gujarat over use of ‘Sinh’ in name

AHMEDABAD: A Dalit family was barred by Darbar community members from performing post-wedding rituals at a temple in Golagam village, Vav taluka in Banaskantha on Sunday. The family, which had to hold their marriage under police protection, faced stone pelting from Darbars at the temple, and the groom was hit by a stone, said a local activist, Dalpat Bhatia.
Sub-inspector of Vav taluka police station, Hitendra Bhati, said police rushed to the spot after the incident and further investigation is on in the case.

The family had begun to face threats from members of the Darbar community after they added the suffix ‘Sinh’ to the names of two children on the wedding invitation card, something that Darbars take as their prerogative.

The head of the Dalit family, Kanji Bhadru, who is a cop with Deesa city police in Banaskantha, had earlier received about 50 threat calls, and police had arrested two accused and also deployed police protection for the marriage.

Bhadru said his brother Hitesh had married on Saturday, and when the newly married couple had gone to a Shiva temple in their village, they found Darbars had gathered at the spot.

“To perform post-wedding rituals, our family and some friends had taken the couple to the village temple. When they reached there, Darbar community members got into arguments with the family and then started pelting stones,” said Bhadru. “They even broke the pitchers from which our kids drank water in the temple.”

Bhadru said that the wedding was conducted in the presence of five armed policemen. The Darbar community of the village had done this in revenge, as he had filed an FIR against them over the threat calls, said Bhadru. He added that such incidents had never happened in the village, earlier.