Groom, kin tonsured by bride’s family for demanding dowry

LUCKNOW: Agitated over the demand for dowry during a marriage ceremony, the family members of the bride allegedly held the groom and his kin hostage and tonsured them in Khurram Nagar area on Sunday night, police said.

In-charge of Indira Nagar police station Mukul Varma said the bride’s family had registered a case against the groom and his family under the Dowry Prohibition Act for damaging their reputation.

“The groom’s family has also lodged a cross-FIR against the bride’s relatives for taking them hostage and defaming them,” he said, adding that six people from the groom’s side were tonsured.

The bride’s father, a resident of Khurram Nagar, is a vegetable vendor while the groom’s family lives in Dhaukalpurwa in Barabanki district.

The groom, Abdul Kalam, runs a fruit juice stall in Mumbai.

A police officer said the bride’s family alleged in their complaint that they were giving a motorcycle to the groom in dowry but his family started insisting on another brand.

He said the bride’s relatives got infuriated when the groom also demanded a gold chain.

The bride’s relatives and residents of the colony held the groom’s family hostage even as the guests from the groom’s side fled the scene, he added.

A member of the bride’s family said, “We kept pleading to them for more than two hours but they refused to budge. When we promised to give them the motorcycle that they wanted, they started demanding for a gold chain, that too immediately. They threatened to return without solemnizing the marriage.”

He said there was some dispute on the ‘meher’ amount which was earlier fixed at Rs

25,000.

In Muslims, ‘meher’ is a mandatory payment in the form of money or possessions paid by the groom, or by groom’s father, to the bride at the time of marriage.

Groom’s brother Noor-ul-Salam said, “We were manhandled when we asked the bride’s family to fulfill their commitment of motorcycle. We were overpowered and held hostage for over two hours. We were released only when the police intervened in the matter.”

The bride’s father said he had arranged money for the marriage with great difficulty. “I am concerned about the future of my daughter. She is in shock after the incident,” he said.

The girl also decided to call off the marriage.

Her grandmother said it was good that the greed of the groom’s family was exposed before the marriage.