Muzaffarnagar: In an “obscene” display of wealth, a wedding ceremony in Uttar Pradesh showed the dowry – 41 lakh in cash, bride with a knee-length gold chain, silver and other valuables – and not only drew the attention of the IT department and the police, but also the wrath of the local community. Everything was filmed and an alleged video of the “dowry” went viral.
The video shows a man bragging about cash, keys to an SUV and other jewelry. In the next shot, the bride is weighted and almost completely covered with a gold necklace. According to locals, the dowry was worth more than a million.
The Muslim wedding recently took place in the Thanabhawan area of Shamli. The bride, in her early twenties, belongs to a family of cloth merchants who work in Gujarat’s Surat. She is from Shamli, while the groom, who is also a local, has a clothing store in Karnataka.
Police have opened an investigation after scanning the wedding videos. “The investigation has begun and the IT department has also been switched on,” said Thanabhawan DSP Amit Saxena on Sunday.
Meanwhile, community members in Shamli and Muzaffarnagar districts called for strict action against such families for “obscene displays of wealth” at a time when “poor fathers struggle to marry off their daughters.”
Mohammad Khalid Qureshi, a prominent parishioner, said, “Such acts will only be a major hurdle for women whose families are not wealthy.”
“If you watch this, other young men in the community will also ask for cash and cars at weddings. In fact, such weddings are now becoming a trend,” added the resident of Khatauli.
There are several such incidents and this filth in our society needs to stop, said Shameem Qureshi, district president of Jamiatul Quresh.
“We’ll be calling a panchayat soon. Those who encourage dowry will be treated appropriately, ”he added.
Incidentally, this was the third incident of its kind in the region within a week in which a Muslim family filmed the dowry and published it on social networks. Previously, two alleged video clips were widely circulated showing the groom being given cash in lakhs.
Wedding ceremonies in traditional Muslim families were a simple affair until a few years ago. It is not anymore. Recently, the suicide of 23-year-old Ayesha Banu Makrani, who was allegedly harassed for dowry, forced prominent Gujarat clergy to boycott all such weddings.
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