lucknow

Updated: May 27, 2017 15:53 IST

It was like a scene from an eighties curry western.

Ashok Yadav was moments away from marrying the woman his family had picked for him, even as hundreds of doting guests looked on at a wedding mandap in Maudaha, Hamirpur. The 24-year-old had performed the jaimal ritual, which involves the bride and bridegroom garlanding each other, and was just about to take the customary saat phere (sacred vows) around the fire when all hell broke loose.

Two SUVs screeched to a halt at the entrance of the venue, and 10 armed people jumped out. One of them, a woman with a revolver, walked briskly towards Ashok and held it to his head. A few minutes later, they were gone – along with the terrified groom.

Around 40 hours after Ashok was dramatically taken away from them on Monday, his parents lodged a formal complaint with the Maudaha police. The woman with the revolver was identified as Bharti Yadav, who was in a relationship with Ashok. Apparently, she hadn’t been able to come to terms with his decision to marry another.

A hunt has been launched for Bharti, a resident of Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh, and the abducted groom.

Ashok’s father, Ramhet, told police that he had fixed his marriage with the daughter of Laloo Yadav – a resident of Bhavani village near Maudaha – last month. Bharti was Ashok’s colleague at a government hospital in Banda.

Even as she held Ashok at gunpoint at the wedding mandap, Bharti reportedly told the wedding guests that they had been going out for the last 10 months. However, he came down to Maudaha to marry another woman without even telling her.

Witnesses said the agitated Bharti hit Ashok on the head before taking him away,screaming that she was going to marry him at gunpoint. Though the bride’s family dialled 100 soon after they left, attempts to locate the two vehicles went in vain.