Ranchi, Jharkhand: A wedding in Jharkhand’s Ranchi district has sent a strong deterrent message to greedy grooms.

Mumtaz Ansari of Ranchi’s Ormanjhi town got married at Chindwale village on Tuesday night. As a wedding gift, the bride’s family gifted him a new bike. But he wanted more.

Mr Ansari demanded another bike as dowry and when the family tried to reason with him, he showed tantrums and even disrespected the bride’s father.

On finding this, the bride refused to accompany him to her marital home, informed the police.

As a parting ‘gift’ though, the bride’s family tonsured the heads of the groom and his brother and sent them off with a garland of shoes.

Before being allowed to go home, they were asked to write an apology with a promise to return the dowry they had taken, said the police.

This development comes amidst the new wave of anti-dowry campaign that is being steered by 60-year old social activist and politician Haji Mumtaz Ali.

According to a news report, 800 Muslim families have come forward to return the dowry amount since the launch of the campaign in April last year.

“On the day of the marriage, the two families are asked to swear by the Holy Koran that no dowry has been exchanged. Many families accept their folly the moment they reach the steps of the mosque,” Mr Ali was quoted as saying by the news portal indiatoday.in

(With Inputs From IANS)