Amethi (UP):
A wedding in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi has taken a turn for the bizarre after members of the bride’s family took the groom hostage and demanded that his family pay the expenses they made in the preparations. The bride’s family has said the groom is in a relationship with another woman and that they won’t go ahead with the wedding.
The hostage situation follows dramatic developments ahead of the wedding function last night. The groom, Sohanlal Yadav from Ayodhya, went missing days before the wedding. Unable to reach him, his family filed a missing complaint. Unaware of this situation, the bride’s family made grand preparations for the wedding function. On the wedding night, guests started coming in, but the groom did not.
Later, the bride’s family was called to the local police station, where they learned of the situation. Following police’s intervention, the groom eventually agreed to the wedding and reached the bride’s home with the wedding party around 2.30 am. By then, her family had come to know about his affair. They treated the groom to a meal and told him they wouldn’t proceed with the wedding. He was told that he could leave only after his family paid the expenses the bride’s family had made. Sohanlal is now a hostage at the bride’s home — quite the reverse of the situation he would be in if everything went as planned.
Seated in the decorated car, Sohanlal said, “There was no problem. We just came late. They are now saying they don’t want the wedding and demanding compensation for their expenses. They are not letting me leave. Asked about his disappearance, he said, “I had not disappeared. I was in Lucknow. My phone had stopped working. When I somehow switched it back on, the police called me and I reached the police station. I wanted to marry, but they are not ready.”
The bride’s father Lal Bahadur Yadav said the wedding date was fixed 10 months back. “Three days after the Tilak ceremony, he (groom) said no to the wedding. When we asked why, he said he wanted a car. We agreed to that too. Then he said he did not want the car, but cash instead. We agreed again. We asked him if there was any other problem, and he said no. So we started the preparations.”
The bride’s father said that on the wedding night, guests started leaving, but the groom had not arrived. “We kept calling without success. My brother-in-law is from their area. He asked me to come to the police station. When we reached there, we found the groom.”
Police officers, he said, warned the groom that he would face a dowry case. “Under pressure, he agreed to the wedding. When he came here, the villagers wanted to beat him up. I stopped them, we fed him. He ran away three days before the wedding, he is in a relationship with another woman. He should have told us beforehand, then we would not have made such preparations. We want him to pay us for the expenses and then he can leave. We don’t want this wedding. He betrayed before the wedding, what can we expect later?”
The bride’s uncle Shyamlal Yadav said they had made all the preparations for the wedding. “He agreed to marry after the police’s warning. We have no reason to fight with him. But he gets angry and takes off, he has an affair, who will agree to marry off their daughter to him? Tomorrow if he abandons her, her life will be ruined.”
Police have been trying to reason with the bride’s family, but they have refused to budge.
Inputs by Arun Gupta
