Bride divorces greedy groom minutes after marriage

Patna: A Muslim girl from the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand handed out instant divorce to her greedy groom minutes after their marriage was solemnised in the presence of guests. This followed shortly after the groom placed a sudden demand for a stylish bike and misbehaved with the girl’s father.

The bizarre incident took place early Wednesday morning at Chandve village, which falls under Ranchi district in Jharkhand that many believe will be an eye-opener for dowry-seekers.

The marriage of Rubana Parween, daughter of Mohammad Basruddin Ansari was fixed with Mumtaz Ansari, son of Ayb Ansari. As per the scheduled programme, the wedding procession reached the bride’s home on Tuesday night. The marriage was solemnised shortly past midnight.

Witnesses said everything was okay till the marriage was solemnised. Soon after wedding, however, the groom suddenly began demanding a Bajaj Pulsar bike while the girl’s family had already purchased a Hero Passion PRO bike in accordance with the earlier demand by the groom.

When he was informed that a bike had already been purchased as per his wishes, the groom got involved in an altercation with the girl’s father and misbehaved with him. The villagers intervened and tried to convince the groom but in vain. Instead, he threatened to return home without the bride.

As the bride came to know of the incident, she called her father inside and refused to stay with the groom. “The man who has no respect for my father can’t be my husband,” shouted the bride, adding “I didn’t want to stay with a greedy groom”.

Soon the Qazis were called in and in their presence, she handed an open “talaq” (divorce) to the groom, barely 30 minutes after the wedding had been solemnised.

Subsequently, the girl’s father asked the groom’s family to return the money paid to them as dowry, but they refused.

The villagers then caught the groom and his brother Mohammad Imtiyaz and tonsured their heads, garlanded them with shoes and placed a placard around their neck with the slogan ‘I am dowry greedy’ before parading them through the village before the groom was sent home minus the bride or the bike.

Before being allowed to go home, the groom’s family were also made to give a written apology and make a promise to return all dowries they had taken.

The development comes amid a massive anti-dowry campaign launched by a social activist in Jharkhand under which more than 800 Muslim families have returned dowries to the brides families. The campaign has been launched by Haji Mumtaz Ali.

Such is the success of the campaign that villages are joining it every day and people are openly taking a vow to refrain from giving dowry. Initially the campaign was limited to Palamu district of Jharkhand but now it has spread to neighbouring districts as well.

Ali himself is surprised at the massive success of the campaign which he started on April 24, 2016 to do away with the social evil plaguing the lives of thousands of Muslim families settled in Jharkhand. He never expected it would catch the imagination of common men so quickly.