Forced to dance by drunk groom, woman calls off marriage

PRAYAGRAJ: A woman refused to marry after the groom, in an inebriated state pulled her hand to force her to dance with him.

The incident took place in Tikri village under Mandhata police station of Pratapgarh district on Saturday night where the groom and all the guests from the groom’s side were held hostage by bride’s kin. They were released after the groom’s side paid Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the expenses incurred on marriage function.

According to the locals, problem started soon after the ‘baraat’ (marriage procession), arrived at one Samar Bahadur Verma’s house, where the ‘baratis’ (guests from groom’s side) clashed with kin of bride including bride’s brother twice before the ‘jaimal’ (garland ceremony).

Elders had intervened to sort out things then but around 11.30 pm the groom caught the hand of the bride and forced her to dance, a gesture that the bride disapproved of and refused to marry claiming that the groom

was in an inebriated state.

Subsequently, bride’s kin held the groom and ‘baratis’ (guests) hostage. The guests were released later but the groom and family were allowed

to leave after they paid Rs 5 lakh to compensate for the expenses by the brides’ family.

Police also reached the spot and attempted to pacify the angry bride who however stuck

to her decision to not marry a youth who arrived for the wedding in an inebriated state. SHO Mandhata Shravan Kumar Singh said no police complaint was registered.