(This story was first published in the Times of India on December 14, 2020)
Bareilly: A Wedding everything was going smoothly according to plan in a village in Uttar Pradesh until the bride was dragged to the dance floor by some of the friends of the groom. His relatives fiercely objected. It led to a heated discussion. And what seemed like a perfect wedding turned ugly.
The wedding was canceled. The police were asked to intervene. The bride’s family filed an official complaint. As an arrangement, the groom’s parents had to shell out Rs 6.5 lakhs.
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ABOVE: Baaratis search all night, unable to locate the bride’s house
A groom went with his ‘baraat’ from Azamgarh to Mau for their wedding scheduled for the night of December 10, but discovered that the bride’s address was missing and her whereabouts unknown. Braving the cold, the groom and his relatives roamed the streets in search of the bride’s residence for the night and finally returned home fuming.
Earlier on Friday, the bride and her family had arrived at Bareilly Fashion. They were preparing for a great ceremony. However, there were some initial moments of anxiety. Some drunken guests got caught up in cheap thrills. Her family was also looking for more dowry, the bride’s cousin said.
After the fight, it was all over. The bride decided to go home. “I respect her decision. I cannot force her to marry a person who does not respect her,” said the bride’s father.
The bride’s family belongs to the Kannauj district. And the groom is from a village in the Bithri Chainpur area. Both the groom and the bride are postgraduates. A common relative acted as an intermediary for the wedding.
“I was involved in the preparations when guests from both sides started misbehaving. But nobody misbehaved with the bride. The groom doesn’t even drink, ”said a visibly upset middleman, blaming guests on both sides for the“ dance ”incident.
Bithri Chainpur SHO Ashok Kumar Singh He explained, “The wedding has been canceled. The woman’s family had filed a dowry complaint. No FIR was recorded as it is a problem between two families. They reached an agreement “.
In a last-ditch effort, the groom’s relatives on Sunday tried to convince the other party to rearrange a simple wedding, but the bride refused.
“The groom’s friends were mean to my sister. In our family, we do not allow women to dance in public,” said the bride’s cousin.
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