A bridegroom waiting to register his marriage in a court in Uttar Pradesh was in for a shock when he found that his bride-to-be was a thief, who escaped with jewellery worth Rs 3.5 lakh that was gifted to her by his family.
The incident occurred on Monday, when Neeraj Gupta, a resident of Nawabganj in the Hardoi district’s Sandi, was preparing to get married to a woman introduced to him by a local ‘baba’.
Neeraj said the local baba, named Pramod, brought a marriage proposal and introduced him to a woman from Shahabad in the same district. Neeraj showed interest in the proposal and began talking to the woman over the phone. After speaking to her for a month, he agreed to get married to her and informed the ‘baba’ about his decision.
On the day of the wedding, Neeraj said his family gifted the bride jewellery worth Rs 3.5 lakh during a ceremony at a temple. The couple, their families and the ‘baba’ then headed to a local court to register their marriage.
Neeraj said he and the woman took a few photographs at the magistrate’s office but just before they were supposed to sign the papers to register the marriage, the woman and the ‘baba’ disappeared.
Neeraj and his family tried to look for the bride but couldn’t establish contact.
Realising they had been duped, the family filed a complaint at the City Kotwali police station. The police are investigating the incident.
(With inputs from Mohd. Asif)
