Runaway groom, dangling wife in a well: Asian couples hitting the headlines for the wrong reasons
A series of peculiar marital incidents have recently unfolded, where either side had a sudden change of heart.
In one such incident reported by The Star, a bride in India shocked wedding guests when she abruptly removed her thaali, a sacred thread tied around the bride’s neck during a wedding ceremony.
The thaali is typically removed when the husband dies, or removed by the husband on the death of his wife or at the time of divorce.
The drama unfolded when the bride threw the thaali into the crowd, repeatedly asserting her dislike for the groom. Despite attempts by her family to calm her and persuade her to change her mind, she remained resolute.
Police had to be called in to manage the situation and eventually escorted the bride and her family from the premises while the groom sat unfazed.
Little is known about the bride, except that she is a graduate whose parents arranged her marriage to a bank employee in Bengaluru in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. She reportedly had not objected when the match was first proposed.
In a surprising twist, the groom’s family quickly found another woman from among their relatives and proceeded with the wedding in the same hall.
In another incident, a wedding ceremony in Indonesia took an unexpected turn when the groom got cold feet and fled, leaving his future wife at the altar. The incident that took place on Aug 29 has been filmed and making its rounds on social media.
To save the bride - who wished to only be known by her initials SA - and her family from further embarrassment, the groom’s father stepped in to marry her. The bride’s family had reportedly spent some 25 million rupiah (S$2,200) on the wedding.
SA’s older brother told Ternate Tribune that the groom, known as Isra, and his sister had been in a fairly long relationship, and Isra had even been caught sneaking into his sister’s room during the courtship.
In a more distressing event in India, a husband tied his wife with a rope and threw her into a well for not paying a dowry of 500,000 rupees (S$8,200).
The man, identified as Rakesh Gir, filmed himself while he was doing so and sent the video to his wife’s relatives who then called the police. Gir, upon marrying his wife, Usha, had been harassing her for dowry, leading to frequent disputes
The incident took place on Aug 20 in the Neemuch area of Madhya Pradesh in central India, local news media reported. Usha was rescued by the police, while her husband was arrested.
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