Common sense would dictate that a woman who conducts a sting operation against her dowry-demanding groom-to-be and her future in-laws would scare other potential matches away. But the brave 30-year-old girl recently learned, much to her surprise, that it only increased her charm, reports Mumbai Mirror.
On May 27, there were reports that a bride-to-be (identity protected at the family's insistence) used spy-camera footage of dowry negotiations to have her prospective groom and his father arrested.
Since then, she has had a deluge of marriage proposals from all over the country. In fact, in less than four days after the reports, she may have found a new match.
The woman's brother Deepak Tiwari told Mumbai Mirror, “There have been some 42 proposals for my sister in the past three days. We're seriously considering Pawan Tripathi, a music composer from Bhayandar.”
After the wedding with the first groom Nikhilesh Pathak was called off, the bride's family did not cancel the wedding hall bookings or any of the other arrangements.
Their optimism has paid off. The girl will now get married at the same place and on the same day to a more modern man. Tripathi's sister-in-law Sujata, a lecturer at Reema Mehta College, confirmed the plan. “We have agreed for a wedding on June 19, but final talks are still on.”
The family suspects that the guest list, however, may get longer this time. “So many people requested to be allowed at the wedding to shower their blessings on my sister.
We've already invited 24 o f them, and the number is likely to go up," Deepak said. He added that the family was receiving 50 to 100 phone calls and more than 25 text messages on an average every day. "People call us not just from Mumbai but from Jammu and Kashmir, Pune, Rajasthan, Kolkata, Goa and Delhi.
They congratulate us for our bold step," Deepak said. "There is usually a sense of inferiority when you are on the bride's side. But this incident has given us so much hope and respect," he added.
Mishrilal Rai, a businessman from Goa, was one of those who called the family to seek the girl's hand for his nephew. "If they don't like my nephew, I will direct them to four more potential grooms from Goa," Rai told Mumbai Mirror.
Aakash Tiwari, a cloth merchant from Kolkata, came all the way to Mumbai to propose a marriage between his relative and the girl. "Since the match did not work out, I offered the family monetary help. They have refused the offer."
According to Deepak, the Tiwaris gave gifts worth Rs 4 lakh to Pathak and his family at two functions. The Pathaks had allegedly demanded more in an additional ring ceremony.
Fed up with the endless demands, the girl, with help from her brother Deepak, hatched the plot to record them in the act. Both Pathak and his father are currently in police custody.
Mumbai Mirror on Friday published a sting operation carried out by a 30-year-old girl, who works in a call centre, and was to be married to Nikhilesh Pathak, a resident of Airoli on June 19.
The young bride-to-be exposed her future-husband and in-laws who harassed her and her family with increasing demands of dowry which included a Maruti Swift Car and furniture.
With the help of three spy cameras, the girl and her brother recorded the three- hour negotiation over dowry with the boy's family and handed the same to police.
Without wasting any time, the Mulund police registered a case against the family and arrested two of the family members. The case came to light late on Tuesday night when the family residing in Mulund Colony, Mulund west, filed the case with the police.
The 30-year-old girl works for call centre and was to get married to Nikhilesh Pathak, a resident of Airoli on June 19. Before the wedding two functions were held during which the girl's family gave gifts worth Rs 4 lakh to the boy.
“For Barachaa as well as Tilak ceremonies we did not intend on giving such expensive gifts, but the groom's family insisted that we spend as much. Since we liked the boy we did not create a scene,” said the girl's elder brother.
Few days later, the Pathaks allegedly demanded that a formal ring ceremony would also have to be arranged and gifts given to the entire family. “In our community we do not have any ring ceremony. But we realised that since the boy's family was keen on it we went ahead. This time we gave gifts worth Rs 1 lakh to the family,” said the girl.
Just when the bride's family thought they had bought their peace, the groom's family called to say that they needed a Swift and furniture. “It was made clear right at the beginning that we would not give any dowry, and gifts would be given as per our wishes.
But the boy's father Suresh Dutt Phatak made it clear that if we do not accede to the demands, the wedding would be called off. By now over 100 wedding cards had already gone out and all the other arrangements for the wedding made,” said the girl's father, who lost his job with a private firm a few years ago.
Realising that the Pathaks were serious about their demand, the girl decided to call off the wedding. “It was getting really dirty and coming from an educated family I felt that something had to be done to teach such people a lesson,” said the girl. She sought her elder brother's help to buy three spy cameras.
Recently, the two families met to negotiate the dowry amount. Little did the Pathaks know that they were being taped. “We agreed to give them a Nano instead of Swift and furniture as per our wishes. But they plainly refused,” said the girl's brother.
Armed with the footage, the girl's family first approached local MLA Sardar Tara Singh who advised that they approach Mulund police station. The family did as told as filed a complaint with the cops.
The police have registered a case of cheating, criminal breach of trust and dowry against the Pathaks. At the time of going to press, two members of the family including the groom and his father, had been arrested. PB Landge, senior inspector of Mulund police station said that a case had been filed against the boy and his parents, and investigations were in progress.
Despite the ugly turn of events the girl's family has not cancelled the wedding hall and other arrangements made by them.“We have decided to wait for a suitable boy from our community (Saryuparin Brahmin) to come forward and marry my daughter despite the ugly incident. We believe that goodness is still alive and some nice boy will certainly come forward to marry my daughter,” said her father.
