145 cops escorting him, Dalit groom arrives for wedding on horseback

Apprehending an untoward incident during the marriage procession, the Dalit groom, 33, on January 22 submitted an unusual application with the Banaskantha district superintendent of police seeking protection as he wanted to ride a horse for his big day.

“In our village, people from the Scheduled Caste have never carried out a varghodo . I will be the first to carry out the varghodo. And there is every possibility of (an) untoward incident. And therefore, it is a request to grant us police protection,” stated Parecha’s application.

The marriage procession was carried out in the village with Parecha riding a horse under a tight police bandobast.

The village falls under the jurisdiction of Gadh Police Station.

Police Inspector, Gadh police station, K M Vasava said, “We had deployed a bandobast of 145 personnel, including three sub-inspectors and one police inspector. The procession was held peacefully.” Parecha, who practises law at Banaskantha district court, said, “The marriage procession was carried out under police protection. Nothing happened as I rode the horse. But after I got off the horse, following the procession, sat in my car, and had barely covered 500 metre, someone threw a stone at our vehicle. Then, the Police Inspector (K M Vasava) himself drove the car while Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani, who was also present at the spot, sat inside.”

“We will give a formal application to police on the incident (pelting of a stone) in a day or two,” he added.

Meanwhile, Inspector Vasava said, “We had deployed a drone camera as well for the function. We have seen the visuals and there is no such incident (of stone pelting). The procession was carried out peacefully. But since they made the allegation, I drove the groom’s car and dropped them to the village (Limboi of neighbouring Vadgam tehsil) where the marriage was to take place.”