Two More Indian Wedding Adventures

Indian bride elopes with another man on wedding day

Gulf News
BY LATA RANI, CORRESPONDENT

Patna, India: A bride eloped with her boyfriend on the day of her wedding in Bihar, forcing the groom to return home empty-handed.

The woman had been in love with her relative for a long time, but her family members had arranged a marriage to someone else against her wishes, reports said.

The bizarre incident took place at Hajipur town in Vaishali district, some 50km north of Bihar capital Patna, on Sunday but was reported in local media on Tuesday.

Reports said the daughter of a police officer was expected to marry Jitendra Kumar, son of Niranjan Das, from the central Indian state of Chhatisgarh.

As per the scheduled programme, a marriage procession reached a hotel in Hajipur town on Sunday for the solemnisation of the marriage. Most of the guests and relatives had arrived at the venue and the preparations were on for garland exchange ceremony. In the meantime, power at the marriage venue suddenly went off for a moment. Taking advantage of the situation, the girl dressed in her bridal attire fled with her boyfriend, identified as Prince, an engineering student, on a bike.

Patna, India

As all efforts to locate her went in vain, the groom eventually rushed to the local Hajipur town police station and reported the matter to the police. He registered a case against three people, charging them with helping his would-be bride to flee.

Acting on his complaint, the police launched extensive search operations in the area and were finally found the eloping couple.

On Monday, the girl appeared in a local court where her statement was recorded. The two lovers were still in police custody. In her statement, the woman said they loved each other and wanted to live together.

Her boyfriend gave a similar statement.

“We love each other very much and want to marry,” her boyfriend told the police.

I wonder what charges could be brought against them? 

These are the fourth and fifth Indian wedding adventures I have brought to you this year. These tragi-comic stories help prevent India from becoming a destination for weddings. 

The first story was about the groom who had a seizure at the altar and so his bride married a guest; there was the rejected bride on a hunger strike outside the grooms family home; there was the bride who rejected her groom at the altar for being illiterate. And now, this unfortunate piece...

Patna

In another related incident, a groom was shot dead by unidentified criminals in Buxur district of Bihar on Tuesday evening just when the preparations were going on for garland exchange ceremony.

He was rushed to a local government hospital where the doctors declared him dead on arrival.