Runaway organisers leave brides and grooms in lurch at mass event in Rajkot

Rajkot: For more than 50 prospective brides and grooms, a mass wedding ceremony in Rajkot was going to be etched in lifelong memories, instead, their emotions swung from hope to despair and finally into anger after the unscrupulous organisers gave the event a miss.

Moved by the plight of the marriage hopefuls, police took the initiative to make arrangements for marrying off at least six couples on the spot on Saturday, officials said.

When the families of 28 pairs of brides and bridegrooms arrived at the venue, they were shocked to find that no arrangement was made for the function and organisers were missing with their mobile phones switched off, said Assistant Commissioner of Police Radhika Bharai.

The families, who came from different parts of Rajkot and other districts, created a ruckus, prompting the police to intervene.

Police took up the responsibility for completing the wedding ceremony and called up the grooms who had left. "Six couples tied the knot following arrangements made by the police," the ACP said.

While many couples had already left the venue to get married at nearby temples and elsewhere, arrangements were made for six couples present at the spot, the police officer said.

Bharai said a case would be registered against the organisers after family members of marriage hopefuls claimed that organisers had collected Rs 15,000 each from them for arranging the function.

The organisers had promised to arrange everything along with gifts for the newly-married couples, family members claimed.

Shilpaben Bagtharia, who attended the wedding of her relative's daughter, said the organisers had taken Rs 15,000 each from both the parties and also promised to give dowry.

"No arrangements were made. And since none of the organisers was present, the crowd left the venue, dashing everyone's hopes. Priests who had come to arrange the wedding also went back," she said.