A lower-caste man, who allegedly faced discrimination in completing his wedding rituals, married his bride under police protection at Bhusthala village in Haryana's Kurukshetra district on Monday.
Sandeep Kumar, a member of Dalit community, was reportedly stopped from riding the traditional horse-cart by members of village upper caste on Saturday night, and was purportedly told to ride a car or a tractor to the marriage venue.
Even worse, Kumar and his family members were prevented from entering local temples to perform some marriage rituals hours before the marriage ceremony.
The incident triggered clashes between the two sections of the village and police force was called in to restore calm.
Kumar, who married Veena on Monday morning, narrated his story.
"We couldn't seek blessings at any of the temples. When we went to Valmiki temple with the help of police, the villagers pelted stones at us. Many of the stones hit police officials. The marriage procession could move only when more police force was called in. We completed the marriage rituals in the presence of police," Kumar told ANI.
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Even as normalcy returned to the village, heavy police presence remained outside Kumar's residence.
"He started facing problems while going to the temple. The police force and administration helped in completing the rituals. The administration is with them and the situation is under control. Police force has been deployed to keep an eye on all activities. Everything is under our control," Naib Tehsildar Chetna Chaudhary told ANI.
Kurukshetra Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP) Aryan Choudhary said, "A case was registered against 20 people in this connection and police are conducting raids to arrest them. They will be arrested by tonight.