The Police organised a mass wedding on Valentine’s Day in which 15 surrendered Naxals tied the knot in Chattisgarh’s Dantewada district. The Dantewada Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Pallava told ANI, “Today 15 surrendered Naxalites tied the knot here. Among them, there were many who fell in love while they were a part of the Naxal outfit but they were not permitted to marry.”
“The Dantewada police has been carrying out a ‘Ghar Wapasi’ campaign under which around 300 Naxalites surrendered within a time span of six months. The wedding ceremony was performed according to the culture and tradition of their tribe,” stated the Dantewada SP. He further added that the surrendered Naxals happily participated in the wedding ceremony.
“On Valentine’s Day today, this ceremony has marked the win of love over violence and fear,” he added. A Naxal tying the knot at the ceremony told ANI, “We fell in love a year ago while both of us were working as Naxals. I had a reward of Rs 5 lakh on my head while she had a reward of Rs 1 lakh. We wanted to marry back then but we were prohibited from doing so. We were also not allowed to have children, therefore, they conducted sterilisation.”
Another Naxal, who had joined a Naxal outfit in 2019 and had surrendered recently, expressed happiness at getting married and said that he is thankful to the police for organising the mass wedding ceremony. The ceremony was held in the presence of the family members of the surrendered Naxals, police officers, soldiers, and other surrendered Naxals, the Dantewada police said.
