KANPUR/LUCKNOW: “Baraat laut jayegi” (The groom’s family will return) — The statement is slowly but certainly losing its definitive power to silence dissenting young brides into submission in the state. The weekend saw three UP girls send their prospective grooms and their families back home empty-handed , after discovering that the groom was either “unsuitable”, or a bit too demanding.

Incidentally, all the three incidents occurred in rural parts of the state. In Jainagar locality of Kannauj district, Meena (name changed), was all set to marry a man hailing from Etah district on Sunday. When the baraat reached the wedding venue and the girl was brought onto the stage for ‘jaimaal’ ceremony, she set her eyes on the groom and realized that he was much older than she had been told. Citing the big age difference, she flatly refused to marry the man and stepped down from the stage.

Some elderly villagers tried to intervene on behalf of the groom, but the girl remained firm. “The groom’s parents cheated us. Before the marriage, they said he is 25 years old, but he turned out to be 38. How can we marry an 18-year-old girl to him?” said a relative, adding, “We decided not to pressure her as it is the question of her whole life.”

Talagram SHO Rajnesh Chauhan said the matter was eventually amicably resolved between the two sides and hence no case was registered.

In a separate incident reported from Bandhurkurd village of Hamirpur district on Sunday, Kavita (name changed) srefused to marry Karan Pal of Kanpur Dehat’s Gadhikheda village after she found that he was physically challenged. But that wasn’t all. The groom’s parents, siblings and some other relatives were held captive and beaten up for hiding the disability.

The police were later called in and a panchayat was convened in which the money and gifts exchanged by the two sides were returned. “The girl was first informed by her friends that her groom was limping and was unsuitable for her,” SHO Binwar Girendra Singh said. When Kavita noticed herself that the groom’s leg was amputated, she backed out of the wedding. An upset Karan returned home a bachelor on Sunday.

Similarly, the family of a groom from Shardanagar, Telibagh had to return home without a bride from Nigohan. The marriage was called off after incessant demands by the groom during the nikaah ceremony irked the bride and her mother.

Shahrukh and his family reached Nigohan village on Saturday night to solemnize his wedding with Aamna (name changed). Just as the local maulvi was conducting the nikaah, however, Shahrukh demanded a motorcycle and other things from the girl’s family. He also had a heated argument with the girl’s family when asked to wait for some time. While senior family members temporarily managed to broker peace between the two sides, Shahrukh lost his cool again in the morning over delay in serving of refreshments.

Upset over her in-laws’ “greed”, Aamna decided not to leave for Telibagh with them. Police were informed subsequently. Officer-in-charge of Nigohan police station said that no written complaint was made in the matter and it was the senior villagers who kept counselling the girl. But when Aamna got the support of her mother, she decided to get a divorce and bid goodbye to her one-day groom Shahrukh on Sunday morning.

