The groom rides a horse to his wedding under police protection in Madhya Pradesh
A constable who was stopped from riding a horse to his wedding eventually managed to ride one under police protection in Madhya Pradesh's Chhatarpur district. This was the third case in a month in the state when a Dalit groom was stopped from riding a horse to their wedding.
In another case of discrimination, an inter-caste couple in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh has alleged their five-year-old child was not being allowed to play with other children in their village.
Both areas come under the Bundelkhand region, considered to be one of the poorest.
In the first matter, police constable Dayachand was to get married on February 9. The preparations for the wedding were almost complete, but just as he was leaving his house on a horse, some upper caste people stopped him. They stopped the wedding band too and chased away the DJ.
"The upper caste people did not allow me to ride the horse. The police are here, but we don't know what will happen later," Dayachand said, adding he has not filed a police complaint although he was abused by the crowds.
State Home Minister Narottam Mishra said it was a pre-wedding ceremony and the procession was not stopped. "The rituals completed peacefully," Mr Mishra said.
In the second case, a couple in Damoh has alleged that the village panchayat was upset with their inter-caste marriage and was asking for Rs 2 lakh from them if they want to live together in the village.
The husband, Rajesh Prajapati, belongs to Other Backward Classes category and had gone against the directions of village elders and married Jyoti Uthya, who belongs to the Scheduled Castes community.
Mr Prajapati told the police his community members were demanding Rs 2 lakh from them. He alleged his family has been ostracised by the village panchayat for the last seven years. Their five-year-old son is not being allowed to play with other children in the village, he alleged.
"We have already suffered for over seven years. My father agreed to the penance as was demanded from him by the village panchayat. We wanted to get back to the community fold, so we agreed to organise a feast for the villagers. We did not have enough money and took a loan," Mr Prajapati said.
"But even after doing what was asked from us some villagers created a scene and said the penance won't be complete till we paid an additional Rs 2 lakh. We do not have the money and the money that we took on loan for the feast has also gone waste," he said.
Damoh Superintendent of Police DR Tanibar said he has got a complaint from Mr Prajapati and his wife. Action will be taken if the community members were found to be making extortion demands.