By IANS
Patiala (Punjab) : A New York-based non-resident Indian (NRI) doctor was arrested here Friday for demanding a dowry of Rs.5 million, but not before he and his family were given a sound thrashing by the bride’s side for putting forth such a demand just before the wedding was to commence here.
The doctor, Gurpreet Singh, and his parents were arrested by the Patiala police after the girl’s family filed a police complaint.
Singh and his relatives, who originally hail from Ludhiana district but have been settled in the US for many years. They were assaulted and beaten up by the bride’s family and friends at the Chahal Marriage Palace – an upscale wedding venue – here.
The room, Gurpreet Singh, received sound thrashing from several relatives and his turban and other finery for the occasion went flying. His father was not spared either.
Total chaos prevailed at the marriage venue where hundreds of guests from both sides had gathered Friday for the wedding. The police were called and they took the groom and his relatives away.
“I thought they would lynch the boy,” said a relative who witnessed the scene at the wedding venue.
The bride, a doctor herself, refused to marry the boy after the dowry demand was made Thursday night.
But the bride’s family did not call off the wedding ceremony in order to teach the groom and his family a lesson in full public view.
Relatives of the bride alleged that the girl’s family had already spent a lot of money on the groom and his relatives and on making arrangements for the wedding, but that had not satisfy the greed of the boy’s family.