25-year-old Jugal Kishore of Moradabad, India got more than he could have ever anticipated on his wedding day when his wife-to-be, Indira, decided to switch husbands during an emergency medical procedure related to Kishore’s epilepsy.
According to a recent local report, Indira (two years Kishore’s junior) had grown irritated when the pair’s traditional varmala ceremony was abruptly halted by a sudden epileptic seizure on the part of Kishore (she claims she did not know about his illness prior to this incident). The enfranchised young bride then made a surprise announcement during her fiancee’s time away, that she wanted to get going with the ceremony and would marry one of the willing male guests in place of Kishore. The challenge was met by the bride’s sister’s brother-in-law, Harpal Singh, and the two completed their vows just before potential husband no. 1 returned from his treatment.
There were reportedly words exchanged, dishes thrown, and legal complaints lodged, but in the end there was nothing Kishore and his family could do – the marriage was legal, and the wedding was over.
Ram Khiladi Solanki, a local police official, has gone on record to say that while the ex-almost-groom’s accusation was genuine, the lack of legality behind its intent led for it to ultimately be dropped. Kishore and his family then returned “in peace” to their hometown of Morabad, India, and brash young Indira got to keep her new husband. Let’s just hope this one doesn’t catch a debilitating cold during the honeymoon.
What are some thoughts on this issue of legally binding marriage? Would a form of marriage without government involvement have allowed for the wronged groom to have more ability to retaliate? And even if so, should it? Would a model like that even work as well in India’s caste system as we oftentimes argue it would in the stratified-yet-mobile U.S.? Leave comments below.
