According to a report published in Reuters, 23-year-old Savitri Prasad was supposed to get married on Tuesday, but an extremist mob attacked the nearby areas of her home, making it difficult for the family to organize the function in a fearful environment. However, the next day, Savitri’s father Bhoday Prasad arranged the wedding function somehow, saying his Muslim neighbours were like a family and he could not organise the wedding without their presence.
The bride while talking to the media outlet said that her Muslim brothers were protecting her on the wedding day. The rituals took place at Savitri’s home, a small brick building located in the Chand Bagh district of Delhi.
“We went to the terrace and just saw smoke and more smoke. We don’t know who the people behind the violence are, but they are not my neighbours. There is no enmity between Hindus and Muslims here,” Bhoday Prasad while commenting on the riots that took place near his home said.
On the day of wedding, Muslim neighbours gathered to offer blessings as the groom arrived and the wedding rituals took place, with a Hindu priest reciting holy verses and the groom and bride taking the rounds of a small pyre set up inside the house.
Savitri’s neighbor Aamir Malik said that the Muslim community live peacefully with their Hindu brothers in Chand Bagh. The neighbor while standing outside to protect the Prasad’s home said, “we are everything for them. It’s been like that. We are here for them.”
The bride’s father on the wedding day said, “today, none of our relatives could attend my daughter’s wedding, but our Muslim neighbours are here. They are our family.”