A groom in Uttar Pradesh's Chandauli abruptly called off his wedding over an alleged delay in serving food, leaving the bride and her family stranded at the venue, only to marry his cousin later that day.
The bride and her family then approached the police, demanding justice, and also claimed that they had given Rs 1.5 lakh to the groom's family hours before the ceremony was to take place.
Speaking to the media, the bride said her marriage was arranged with Mehtab seven months ago. On December 22, as the wedding procession arrived at her house in Hamidpur village, Mehtab and his relatives were extended a warm welcome by her family.
"I was ready since morning. The groom and his family arrived, ate and then abused and assaulted my parents before leaving the spot. I later approached the police for justice," she said.
The bride said that as the wedding guests sat down to eat, there was a slight delay in serving food to Mehtab. He got angry after his friends teased and poked fun at him and he and his family then allegedly abused the bride's family and relatives, leading to an argument.
The village elders tried to intervene to resolve the issue but Mehtab refused to tie the knot and returned to his house.
As the bride's family grappled with the shock, Mehtab married one of his cousins later the same day.
Police Complaint
On learning about Mehtab's wedding, the bride and her parents visited the police post in Industrial Nagar on December 23 to file a complaint. Alleging inaction, they later escalated the issue to the Superintendent of Police Aditya Laghe.
In the complaint, the woman's mother said the family had suffered a loss of Rs 7 lakh because they had paid for all the arrangements and catered to around 200 guests from the groom's side.
An amount of Rs 1.5 lakh was also handed over to the man's family hours before the wedding, she said in the complaint.
Sources said Mr Laghe summoned both parties, who agreed to resolve the matter amicably.
"A written agreement was signed by both parties that an amount of Rs 1.61 lakh would be given to the woman's family," Circle Officer Rajesh Rai said.
(With inputs from Santosh Jaiswal)
