Marriage on mind, Ludhiana girl in four-hour ‘Sholay’ re-run

LUDHIANA: In a semi re-run of the famous "Basanti-Veeru" scene of Bollywood blockbuster "Sholay", a girl climbed a 100-ft-tall high-voltage pylon on the outskirts of a village in Machhiwara on Tuesday morning to mount pressure on her family to agree to her marriage with her boyfriend. The girl finally climbed down after protracted negotiations spanning over 4 hours and after her boyfriend assured her that he would wed her.
As per reports, a girl aged 19, who is a native of Bihar and lives with her parents in a village in Bet area, had a “affair" with a 26-year-old Uttar Pradesh resident.It is learnt that the girl’s parents initially refused to agree to the match because of their age difference and as they were unsure about his marital status.
Girl relents after BF agrees to marry
Sources said that the girl’s family subsequently asked her boyfriend to get Rs 50,000 deposited in her name for her financial security.
They added that the two families were in the midst of alliance negotiations when the girl decided to make her point from atop the power pylon.
According to sources, the girl clambered on the pylon near the village at 9 am. The girl’s family dashed there when they came to know of her act and tried to persuade her to get down, but without success.
A villager said that the girl maintained that she would end her life if she was not married to her chosen one. Police personnel from Sherpur police post also reached the spot to try to persuade the girl.
"The local power department officials toyed with the idea of snapping the power supply, but realized that it would be of no use as she was on the pylon. When all efforts failed,her boyfriend was called to the spot. It was only after he shouted that he would marry her that she got down from tower," said the villager.
After her descent from the tower, she told her family that she had taken the step as she could not live without her boyfriend.
SHO Machhiwara police station Sukhvir Singh said that the girl was sent home and her parents told the police that they would get her married to the man. He said it took over 4 hours to convince the girl to come down.