BISADA: The two daughters of Hakeem, a Muslim villager in Bisada , will get married on Sunday morning, and some Hindus from the village are bearing the wedding expenses.

The family of Mohammad Akhlaq, who was lynched in the same village on September 28 over rumours that he had beef at home, had always maintained that they had lived peacefully in Bisada for generations, and there never was any communal strife. The coming together of two communities for the Sunday wedding was a reflection of how Bisada villagers had lived in the past until that unfortunate incident happened with Mohammed Akhlaq and his family. The incident seriously threatened to completely destroy the social fabric of the village.

TOI had earlier reported that the wedding of the two Muslim girls was scheduled for October 11 in Bisada, but given the tension in the village, the Hakeem family was planning to organise the event somewhere outside. But some village elders convinced them to not shift the venue. And then some Hindus decided to lend a helping hand and took over the arrangements for the food and tent. The food, though, will be strictly vegetarian.

"The ceremony will be held in the Bisada primary school. I have made arrangements for the food and tent. Other people are also chipping in," said H K Sharma of Bisada.

Hakeem's two daughters, Jaitoon and Reshma, will get married to Nazim and Mobin. Nazim lives in Sadullapur while Mobin is from Piyawali, a village next to Bisada.

"Our village is like one big family . We always extended help to each other in trouble.Hindus from the village are helping me financially and physically . It feels like they are marrying off their own daughters," Hakeem told TOI.

"The family has invited nearly 1,000 people but we have made arrangements for 1,500," Sharma said. Matar paneer, dahi bhalle, puri and naan have made it to the menu, as have sweet dishes like rasgulla and jalebi.

"This is not the first instance of Hindu families helping Muslim families in the area,“ Bisada village headman Sanjay Rana said.“In the past, too, we have supported many Muslim weddings. Hindus had even collected money to build a mosque in the village. We believe, with these two marriages, peace and harmony will once again return to Bisada," Rana said.

Dadri sub­divisional magistrate Rajesh Singh said, "After the lynching, the grooms' families had said they would not want to come to Bisada. So, there was talk of shifting the venue. But that has been sorted out. Now, there is peace in the village. Things are getting back to normal."