THANE: A 32-year-old hardware engineer from Mumbai was forced to live up to his promise of marriage to a 25-year-old woman, whom he had dumped after a five year-long relationship.

A "not-too-friendly advice" of "either marrying her or facing charges of rape" by local NCP activists Suresh Sarpate and Shashikala Pujari appears to have "convinced" a reluctant Shiva Jadhav to swiftly solemnize his relationship with Prajakta Kharde (both names changed) following a simple ceremony here on Saturday.

The bride's family, residents of Vartak Nagar, was present and later took the couple to NCP leader Jitendra Awhad for his blessings, who gave them Rs 51,000 as wedding gift.

A tense-looking Jadhav told TOI he had drifted away from Kharde for some personal reasons but now he whole-heartedly accepted her as his wife. "I will not be able to take her to my house immediately as my ailing mother will go into shock,"he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Incidentally, Jadhav was scheduled to get married to another girl decided by his family on May 30, which led Kharde to approach the police.

Kharde and Jadhav knew each other from college and had been dating since mid 2010. Jadhav had promised her then that he "would marry only her despite their caste difference". They had gotten intimate physically too.

However, Jadhav's wedding had been fixed to a distant relative by his family in 2011.

"When we found out, we rushed to his house. However, he emotionally blackmailed me to forget everything for the sake of his parents. My father could not take this and consumed poison. The matter was reported to the police. Jadhav was scared of the consequences and promptly cancelled his wedding then," Kharde said.

The two resumed their relationship and were going steady till January 2015 when he suddenly cut off all ties again.

She complained to Vartak Nagar police when she found out he was getting married on May 30. In the meantime, NCP activists swung into action. Pujari said, "The girl told me everything. I decided to take up the matter and told Jadhav that either he accepted her as his wife or face criminal charges."