Horse riding during weddings is a common practice across India, yet Dalit grooms repeatedly face opposition from uppercaste people.
A Dalit groom’s traditional wedding procession was allegedly stopped midway in Madi village of Gujarat’s Mehsana district after upper-caste men objected to him riding a horse during the ceremony.
The incident occurred around 10 am on May 10 near the village dairy and has once again highlighted the continuing resistance to Dalit assertions of cultural equality despite constitutional and legal safeguards.
Complainant Bhavik Rawat stated that his younger brother, groom Mayank Rawat, faced abuse from Yuvrajsinh Chauhan and Nikulsinh Chauhan of the Darbar community.
The accused allegedly hurled casteist slurs, manhandled the groom and claimed horse mounted processions as an exclusive Darbar right. The accused threatened the family against proceeding, which led to panic among relatives and guests, halting the baraat before it reached Ahmedabad for the ceremony.
Ladol police in Vijapur taluka swiftly registered an FIR against the duo under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Local activist Kaushik Parmar highlighted this as evidence of persistent discrimination, even amid constitutional protections.
Horse riding during weddings is a common practice across India, yet Dalit grooms repeatedly face opposition from uppercaste people.
Such violence often erupts over symbolic assertions of dignity, such as a Dalit groom riding a horse, playing music, or passing through dominant-caste localities, practices that challenge entrenched social hierarchies.
In April 2026, a 23-year-old physically disabled Dalit groom, Golu Ahirwar, was allegedly dragged off a horse and assaulted during a pre-wedding procession in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh district after caste-Hindu men objected to him riding through the village. His family members were also allegedly assaulted and robbed when they intervened.
In February 2026, armed men from the Thakur community allegedly attacked a Dalit wedding procession in Sunana village of Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district using firearms, swords, and sticks, while hurling caste slurs and vandalising the DJ system. In another February 2026 incident in Chandrumana village, Patan district of Gujarat, Dalit groom Vishal Chavda was allegedly attacked with swords and casteist abuse for riding a horse during his wedding procession.
In April 2025, a 22-year-old Dalit groom in Agra district, Uttar Pradesh, was allegedly dragged off his mare, beaten, and robbed over objections to loud music near upper-caste houses. Around the same period in Bulandshahr, upper-caste men reportedly stopped a Dalit baraat for playing DJ music, assaulted guests, and forced the procession to turn back. Similar incidents involving violence or intimidation against Dalit wedding processions have also been reported from districts such as Meerut, Etah, Amroha, and Tikamgarh.
These recurring attacks continue to highlight the deep-rooted nature of caste discrimination in social and cultural spaces despite constitutional guarantees of equality and the abolition of untouchability.
Other incidents in Mehsana district show that caste tensions are recurring. In 2019, a Dalit youth was allegedly assaulted and forced to shave his moustache by dominant caste men, an act seen as humiliation and assertion of social hierarchy. During the 2016 period of Dalit protests in Gujarat, the district also witnessed tensions and demonstrations, reflecting deeper caste divisions.
Courtesy : Maktoob Media
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