"My parents agreed to the demands initially"
Indian groom Akshat Gupta, from Kasna village, Greater Noida, was charged on Wednesday, June 26, 2019, for walking out of his wedding after the bride’s family failed to pay the Rs. 1 Crore (£115,000) dowry.
Ten members of Gupta’s family were also booked by police for leaving the wedding after dowry demands were not met.
The 32-year-old groom allegedly made the Rs. 1 Crore (£115,000) dowry demand two days before the wedding and threatened to walk out if they failed to pay the cash.
The bride, who works for a bank in Delhi, filed a police complaint against Gupta, who worked as a businessman.
She also filed a complaint against Gupta’s father Vijay Kumar, mother Rajni Gupta, his six sisters and two unnamed relatives who were part of the wedding procession.
The groom lived with his family in the Jaypee Greens area of the city.
The woman explained that the marriage was arranged by both families in April and stated that the groom’s family had started to make dowry demands since that day.
She said that they demanded a wedding in a five-star resort, gold coins for all six sons-in-law and other relatives, gold chains for the groom and his father and cash for all those who came with the baraat.
The woman said: “My parents agreed to the demands initially and promised they would do whatever they could with their savings.”
However, two days before the wedding took place, the groom and his mother demanded Rs. 1 Crore in cash and threatened to break the marriage if the demands were not met.
The woman’s family were not able to pay the dowry and on the day of the wedding, the bride’s father was taken to one side and “humiliated”.
In the complaint, the bride added:
“They humiliated my father for not meeting the demands. Soon after, Akshat walked out of the venue.”
“When my relatives tried to stop him, he threatened them with dire consequences.”
After the woman’s statement was recorded, the police arrested and booked the Indian groom and his family.
An FIR was registered against the family under section 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
They were also booked under section three and four of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
The custom of giving dowry is one which has seen brides and brides-to-be being subjected to harassment and violence.
While it has been made illegal, dowry is still practised in South Asia.
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