Bride goes to cops as demand for car derails wedding

NEW DELHI: If only more women were like Neelam Rathore. The 24-year-old called off her marriage on Sunday and ensured that her mother-in-law was arrested after the groom’s family refused to go ahead with the ceremony until they were given a Maruti Alto. ‘‘ The bridegroom who impersonated as a senior MTNL employee is on the run. We will arrest him soon,’’ said DCP (Outer district ) Chhaya Sharma.
Neelam being the youngest among three sisters and a brother was the pampered one. Five months ago, when when her marriage was fixed with one Ajay, a resident of Kanjhawala, her brother Devender Singh Rathore wanted the day to be a ‘memorable one’ . Ajay claimed to be an junior engineer with MTNL. Devender booked a banquet hall in the posh Vasant Kunj area. It was decided that the tilak ceremony would be held on May 22 and the wedding the next day.
The groom’s mother, Kamla (52), said since Ajay was a ‘‘ government official’’ , they should be given dowry. ‘‘ We agreed as Neelam’s happiness was our priority. We did not even check the antecedents of the boy as we stay in Mahipalpur, some distance from the groom’s residence,” said Devender.
They demanded a bed, television, fridge, sofa, washing machine, gold chains weighing 15 gm each for Ajay and his sisters-in-law , gold ear rings weighing 5 gm for his mother, sewing machine , watches, 71 utensils, 40 pairs of shirts and trousers and a desert cooler. ‘‘ The gifts were handed over on the day of the tilak ceremony ,’’ said the police.
Drama started on the wedding day. ‘‘ Around 5 pm, Kamla called up Neelam’s mother to tell her that the barati will not leave Kanjhawala until Devender met them there,” said Neelam.
When Devender and two other relatives reached Kanjhawala , Kamla and one of Ajay’s uncles demanded that a Maruti Alto be given to them. ‘They said there will no wedding without the car,’’ said Neelam. She said they had made elaborate arrangements for the 1,200 guests expected at the marriage and reception at Vasant Kunj on Sunday. The Rathores tried to talk with Ajay but he was missing.
According to DCP Sharma , Khanjhawala police station received a dowry complaint from the Rathores. ‘‘ When we investigated the matter, we found that Ajay was a peon at the Connaught Place MTNL office. His father, a junior engineer, died on duty and he got the job on compassionate grounds even though he had just passed class IX,’’ said the DCP.
The police said the Rathores had spent more than Rs 5 lakh on the reception . ‘‘ We have filed an FIR under sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. We have arrested the groom’s mother. We may further arrests or add other sections like impersonation soon,’’ said Sharma.
Devender runs a local news agency and is the only earning member in Neelam’s family.
dwaipayan.ghosh@timesgroup .com