A marriage party (baraat) in Himachal Pradesh’s Una returned home without the bride as no wedding was planned in the supposed bride’s village, where the wedding was to take place.
On Tuesday, the 'baraat' arrived in from the nearby Nari village but the residents of Singa village were surprised as there was no wedding planned there.
When the groom's side showed the photograph of the bride to the village residents, they were surprisingly told that she was not from the village.
Gurdev Singh Gyani, the sarpanch of Singa village, said there was no such girl or family in the village, adding that the incident was unfortunate.
The family members of the 34-year-old groom were looking for a suitable match for their son for the past several years and when the girl's photograph was shown to the boy, he agreed as the girl was beautiful and well educated.
The wedding was fixed in a hurry and neither the families, nor the couple-to-be met before the event.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, the middlewoman Manu, a distant
relative of the groom, fled from the spot on the pretext of finding the girl.
The couple Manu and Rajiv, who acted as middlemen and reportedly took Rs 50,000 to fix the marriage, are now being questioned as the groom and the bride never met, and they only spoke on phone for a week before the wedding.
The police arrived as the situation became tense and when contacted the middleman,said that the bride had consumed some poisonous substance and was en route to a hospital in Punjab’s Nawanshahr.
However, the suspicious groom's side surrounded the woman and brought her back to Singa village, where the local panchayat representatives also reached. The baraatis were later taken to the panchayat house.
The police have taken the statements of the groom and his family, but no FIR has been registered yet. After recording the statement, the disappointed baarat returned to their home village.
The middleman told the police that the girl was in contact with a boy living in Australia.
Una Superintendent of Police Rakesh Singh said the the police is keeping an eye on the matter. The statements have been recorded from both sides and further investigation is underway.
In order to serve justice, the Nari panchayat has decided that the whole expense of the wedding i.e Rs 5.86 lakh would be borne by Manu and Rajiv, the couple who acted as the middleman, Panchayat Pradhan Ram Kumar said it has been decided that the accused woman will give the entire amount of the expenses incurred in the wedding to the groom's family.
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