RTI turns guard for brides from criminal grooms

In a somewhat novel use of the RTI Act, brides' parents have started filing applications to verify whether their would-be son-in-law figures in police records in any criminal case.

This increasing trend is reflected in the number of such RTI applications, addressed to the Meerut police, as they have received around 400 queries till now.

"So far, we have received around 400 RTI applications from the parents of the brides. We have been regularly replying to these queries and so far 300 of them have been answered. The increasing number of these applications has started putting extra work pressure on the police," Meerut SP (City) P P Singh said.

This not only prevents grooms from hiding their criminal past record but also help the family of brides to decide whether to proceed with the marriage proposal, depending upon the credentials of the groom revealed under the Act.

According to RTI activist Sandeep Pehal, "Initially, people were not aware of the RTI Act. However, more and more citizens have started using it thanks to the awareness generated by media.

Through RTI people are able to know beforehand whether the groom has any criminal record instead of realising it at a later stage," he said.