The Delhi police on Sunday, 26th April 2020, escorted the Baraat procession of a Delhi resident to his wedding venue in East Delhi. The family members including the Groom were picked up from Gandhinagar and dropped at 4th Pushta, Usmanpur -all while maintaining social distancing norms. The police aimed at safely dropping the residents to their location without breaking any rules which are currently in force amidst the lockdown.
The wedding party in Delhi, with due permission from the authorities was allowed to proceed through the city and reach the venue. Assistant Commissioner of Delhi Police- Mr. Siddharth Jain, was informed by a resident of Gandhinagar of the extraordinary situation; and was asked for help and safety of the members partaking in the procession. Jain, thereafter directed his personnel to escort the party (who were separately seated in their private vehicle) and safely drop them at the venue in Usmanpur. In line with this, Himanshu, the groom, and his four immediate family members were dropped safely to the wedding location, without prima facie breaking any of the lockdown regulations.
In March, the nationwide quarantine was imposed by the government to counter the rapidly increasing corona virus cases, which are currently pitched at 31332 across the country with 3108 in Delhi itself. Though the situation has seen a slight improvement with nationwide recoveries reaching 7696, the fight against the virus is far from over.
To restrict the virus’ spread, the government has ordered restrictions on cross border movement as well as travel through red zones within city limits. Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 are being used to restrict free movement across the country and allow only necessary goods to be transported, while provisions of the Disaster management Act, 1995, have been to impose containment measures such as flight restrictions, prohibitions on public gatherings etc., Additionally, Sections 188, 269 and 270 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 have been brought in place to enable enforcement agencies to restrict the violation of public orders and enforce against the negligent and/or malignant spread of the disease.
Keeping in mind economic concerns, the government, however, has recently allowed certain relaxations on social movement to aid the supply of essential and semi-essential services. Employment opportunities for daily wage earners have also being created in areas relatively less affected with an aim to support the agriculture industry and aid those below the poverty line. The efforts are collectively aimed at coping with the pandemic and reducing its financial ill-effects in the long run.
The Delhi Police’s decision to overlook and facilitate the wedding procession of the Delhi resident aims at fostering solidarity in the current times while rendering hope in restoring the circumstances to normal in the time to come.
