Stone-pelting at Dalit wedding procession in UP's Mathura, 1 injured

A 70-year-old woman was allegedly injured in a clash that broke out in a village here, following a stone-pelting incident after a wedding procession for two Dalit brothers entered an upper-caste locality, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place late Wednesday night in Narhauli village under the Highway police station area, they said.

Police said the wedding procession had arrived from Bharna Kalan in the Govardhan area for the marriage of two brothers from the Scheduled Caste community: Ashok and Kuldeep, sons of Nemchand, to Lakshmi and Poonam, daughters of Gulla.

According to a complaint lodged by the groom's uncle Bhagwan Das, stones were hurled from rooftops when the procession entered the upper-caste locality, triggering the clash with some members of the wedding procession vandalising a sweet shop during the violence.

Meanwhile, the bride's brother, Naher Singh, alleged that members of the other group entered their house and damaged articles kept as dowry.

Police said the situation at one point turned tense as some cops who initially reached the spot were allegedly chased away after being attacked with sticks.

A woman identified as Santoshi sustained serious injuries and was first admitted to a community health centre and later referred to the district hospital for treatment, police said.

SP City Rajeev Kumar Singh said police and administrative officials rushed to the spot after receiving information and dispersed the crowd using mild force.

Police said no accused have been named so far.

Singh said CCTV cameras installed in the area helped police identify those involved in the violence, and five people have been taken into custody.

Legal action has been initiated against them, he said.

The situation was brought under control, and the wedding ceremonies were completed amid heavy police deployment during the night, police said.

Additional police have been stationed in the village as a precautionary measure, though the situation remained peaceful, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)