Amethi (UP):
A wedding in Amethi in Uttar Pradesh has taken a bizarre turn after members of the bride's family held the groom hostage and demanded that his family reimburse the costs of the preparations. The bride's family called off the wedding because the groom is dating another woman.
The hostage situation follows the dramatic developments prior to last night's wedding ceremony. 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 ceremony. On the night of the wedding, guests arrived, but the groom was missing.
Later, the bride's family was called to the local police station where they learned of the situation. After police intervention, the groom finally agreed to go ahead with the wedding and reached the bride's house around 2:30 am with the wedding procession. By then, the bride's family knew about his affair. They treated the groom to a meal, but told him the wedding was off. But he was also told that he could not leave until his family had compensated the bride's family for the wedding costs. Sohanlal remains a hostage in the bride's house – the exact opposite of the situation he would be in if everything went according to plan.
Sitting in a decorated car, Sohanlal said, “There was no problem. We arrived just too late. They now say they don't want the wedding and are demanding compensation for their expenses. They won't let me leave.' He insisted he was never missing. I was in Lucknow. My phone stopped working. When I turned it back on somehow, the police called me and I reached the police station. I wanted to get married but they are not ready yet,” he claimed.
The bride's father Lal Bahadur Yadav said the wedding was fixed 10 months ago. “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. He then said he didn't want the car, he wanted cash. We agreed again. We asked him if there was any problem, and he said no. So we started preparations.”
On the night of the wedding, guests began to leave, but the groom still had not arrived, the bride's father said. 'We kept calling without success. My brother-in-law is from their region. He asked me to come to the police station. When we got there, we found the groom.”
The groom only agreed to the wedding because the police warned him that he could 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. Three days before the wedding he ran away, he is in a relationship with another woman. if we had been told beforehand, we would not have made such preparations. We want him to pay us the costs and then he can leave. We don't want this wedding to be revealed before the wedding, what can we expect later? “
Police tried to talk to the bride's family, but they refused to budge.
Input by Arun Gupta