Dalit groom rides his dream on a horse in UP

Meerut (UP), July 18 (IANS) For Suraj, it was a dream come true when he rode a horse in his wedding procession, despite threats from local upper caste people.With adequate police protection, Suraj participated in the traditional 'ghudchadi' ceremony on Friday and the event passed off peacefully as the procession made its way to the bride's residence in an adjoining village.Earlier in the week, Suraj's father, Mangeram, had approached the Sardhana police, alleging that an upper caste family had threatened "to kill Suraj if he dared to ride a horse".Following the complaint, a police team led by station house officer (Sardhana) Brijesh Kumar visited the accused Thakur family on Friday.The SHO, "The family told us that they had not objected to the groom riding a horse, but had asked them to switch off the music while passing their house as they were in mourning after a family member passed away recently."However, as a precautionary measure, policemen were deployed at the groom's house.Suraj's brother, Ankit, told reporters that the same family had thrashed them earlier when they were building their house and were using the road to keep construction material.
--IANS
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