Families of bride and groom clash over ‘sherwani’ in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal: A squabble over a groom wearing ‘sherwani’ instead of the traditional attire, took a violent turn with the families of the bride and groom clashing and pelting stones at each other in a Madhya Pradesh village, police officials said on Monday.

As per locals, the incident in a village of Dhar district took place on Saturday night after a tribal groom reached the bride’s home in a ‘sherwani’ instead of the traditional ‘dhoti-kurta’. The bride’s family took an objection to it which led to a heated arguments which turned violent.

“The groom (Sundarlal) was wearing a ‘sherwani’, while the bride’s relatives insisted that the marriage rituals be performed in ‘dhoti-kurta’, which led to a heated argument between the two sides and then a violent clash,” the officials told IANS.

Members from both the sides later lodged police complaints, based on which a case was registered against some persons under Indian Penal Code Sections 294 (obscene act), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation).

Groom Sundarlal later told reporters that there was no issue with the bride’s family, but claimed some of her relatives were involved in assaulting people. “The dispute started over the attire. I only want action against those who were involved in assault and stone-pelting,” groom Sunderlal was heard saying to the press on Sunday.

After the incident, a large number of people, including women, reached Dhamnod police station and staged a protest. Some women at the police station alleged that stones were hurled at them by the bride’s relatives, causing injuries to some.

However, later both families agreed and the marriage function was completed.