"You think - is this how people are perceiving us?"
A newly married Indian couple have spoken out after their wedding photos and videos led to online abuse targeting the groom’s skin colour.
Madhya Pradesh’s Rishabh Rajput and Sonali Chouksey, who met in college 11 years ago, married on November 23, 2025.
Their wedding celebrations were shared on social media through photos and videos showing traditional rituals and colourful attire.
What should have been a joyful moment quickly turned sour.
The groom was ridiculed for his “darker skin colour”.
Meanwhile, the bride was branded a “gold-digger”, and there was the implication that she married him under pressure. One comment even suggested that Rishabh’s father must be “a government minister”.
As the mockery spread, the couple responded to the abuse and refused to stay silent.
Rishabh told the BBC: “People were making jokes and memes and it felt very wrong.
“It was our moment and we had waited for it so many years. It was supposed to be a happy moment, but when I saw people’s reactions, I was really shocked.”
The comments were a shock because the issue had never surfaced inside their relationship.
He added: “In so many years that we have been together, no one had ever told us that we were a mismatch because I have dark complexion while she is fairer.”
Sonali said the online abuse affected her deeply:
“You think – is this how people are perceiving us? When they say nasty things about him or call me a gold-digger, it irritates me.”
Addressing the claims about his income, Rishabh said:
“Sorry to disappoint you. I’m not a government employee, but I work hard for my family and want to give them a good, dignified life.”
He also hit back at those questioning his wife’s intentions:
“From college till today, she has stood with me through every good and bad moment. People’s negative opinions mean nothing to me.”
Rishabh said colourism has shadowed him since childhood:
“I know very well that I have a dark complexion.
“But in my wife’s eyes, I am trying to be the best husband I can be, and that is what matters the most. There is no need to speak wrongly about my family.”
The harassment crossed a line when relatives were targeted. One photo included Rishabh’s mother and both families’ sisters, which prompted him to confront the abusers directly.
He said: “I did not like the fact that they targeted my family. I want to tell them, you are a nobody. And you have no right to target – or troll – anyone’s family.”
The couple first met in a zoology class in 2014. Their relationship began a year later and gradually strengthened over the next decade.
Years earlier, Sonali had hoped their wedding would be witnessed by their entire village.
While the couple said some of the public support has been encouraging, they also stressed that the online abuse has taken a heavy emotional toll on their families.
Sonali admitted:
“For people, it may be just something they watch on social media, but it’s our life. And it can destroy someone’s family.”
The abuse reignites the colourism issue in India.
Sonali asked: “We live in India where people from different regions have different skin colour. And fair skin doesn’t necessarily make someone a good person.
“So, how can we judge someone on the basis of their skin colour?”
Rishabh said the prejudice contradicts the reality of the country’s demographics:
“About 70-80% people in India have darker skin tones, but the Indian mentality is that fairer is better. It’s time to change that notion.”
For critics who still describe them as a mismatch, he added:
“When you look at us, do we look even remotely unhappy to you? We don’t. Because we have what most people don’t have. I have her and she has me.”
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