The court noted that such marriages within the Muslim community are often due to "lack of education, lack of knowledge of the customary law of Muslims."
Wakil Malik, who has four daughters, a son and a wife at home, said he works as a daily-wage labourer. He said his family does not mind him taking part in the Hindu procession.
Communal clashes had never erupted in Bisara, home to 400 landowning Hindu and 35 Muslim families, even when religious riots have broken out in the region.