Patiala, January 14
A poor illiterate girl from this city, who has three sisters waiting for her to get married, yesterday refused to marry a repentant groom whose family members got physical with her sister and other women during her pre-wedding reception on January 12.

The groom’s brother first misbehaved with Sita’s sister Meeta by trying to outrage her modesty in a drunken state. Even as the bride’s parents and relatives were coming to terms with this behaviour, there were objections from some other girls and relatives of the bride, who alleged that members of the barat were trying to molest them.

Unable to take this humiliation lying down, the bride’s brothers and other relatives confronted the bridegroom’s family, including the brother of the groom. This further incensed the groom’s brother, who started breaking crockery laid out on a table in a park near the water tank in Gurbaksh Nagar in the city.

The bride’s party then beat up the groom’s brother. The barat broke up after this incident and the dinner laid out on the occasion could not be consumed. The bride’s family promptly went to the police chowki in Gurbaksh Nagar late at night on January 12 and submitted a complaint against the groom’s party.

Before the police could take action in the matter, the groom and his relatives came to the city again yesterday and went to Sita’s house as well as the Division No. 4 police station. The groom and his family begged forgiveness for their act from Sita and her family and expressed their readiness to get the marriage ceremony conducted again. However, it was here that Sita put her foot down.

“If they can misbehave with my sister and other members of my family, what treatment can I expect from them later,” Sita told TNS during an interaction at her house in Street No. 4 in Gurbaksh Nagar today. She said by saying no she was delaying the marriage of her younger sisters also but she felt she had to follow the voice of her conscience.

Besides misbehaving with the girls in the bride’s family, the groom’s parents allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 at the pre-wedding reception. “My father sells fruits to make a living and had already given them Rs 10,000 at an engagement ceremony earlier and expressed his inability to give them more money,” said Sita, adding that this probably angered them further.