Challenging the brutal history of Kasganj district’s discrimination, 27-year-old Sanjay Jatav, a Dalit groom, rode a horse till his marriage venue despite being threatened not to do so by the upper castes. Kasganj had been in headlines a few months ago after the local Thakur community allegedly threatened Dalits against riding horses or horse-drawn buggies at their weddings. Breaking this regressive diktat, Sanjay peacefully got married to his wife, 18-year-old, Sheetal Singh. 

This was done due to the unique ‘baaratis’ – 350 personnel of police force and Provincial Armed Constabulary. Sanjay hails from neighbouring district of Hathras and he rode in Nizampur Village on a horse-drawn buggy. Jatav became the first ever Dalit boy to take a wedding procession through the village of Nizampur, Kasganj. 

To monitor the situation and maintain peace, SDM Devendra Pratap Singh along with district magistrate was present at the wedding venue. The personnel were deployed from Saturday and local intelligence was keeping a track of villager’s movements. A resident said that they had never seen such a tight security. 

The whole Hathras-Kasganj border was dotted with armed police personnel. Earlier the marriage was planned for April 20 but later, it was shifted to July 15 as the bride-to-be had not turned 18 till then. 

According to a report by The Times of India, Sanjay said, “We fought all odds to just earn respect, dignity, and equality for our community. Neither my community nor I was against local Thakurs. But, we were against the discrimination on the basis of caste.”

Sheetal, the bride, looked excited about this unusual marriage, she said, “I am happy that my husband’s efforts have finally broken the age-old traditions of Thakur men to suppress the Dalit community. The Thakurs have attacked Dalit families several times but, this has changed now.”