Groom fails dope test, bride cancels wedding

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dinanagar, May 1

A local resident has set an example in this drug-infested border district by deciding to walk away from marriage rituals after finding the groom intoxicated.

Not only this, Sunita, a resident of Dusshera Ground, walked to the police station, 300 m away from the gurdwara where her marriage was to be solemnised to report the issue.

The matter came to light when Sunita found the groom, Jaspreet Singh of Khanpur (Mukerian), faltering at almost every step. While Jaspreet’s parents claimed that their son was not at all intoxicated, Sunita asked them to go for his medical check-up.

The groom was taken to the Singowal Community Health Centre (CHC) but due to lack of equipment the test could not be conducted.

There was chaos all around as a determined Sunita refused to yield to the repeated requests of Jaspreet’s family to go ahead with the ceremony. As she was sure that the groom was under some sort of drugs, she insisted on a medical test at a private laboratory in Gurdaspur. And as she suspected, the test turned positive.

Sunita then made her way to the police station where she told Station House Officer Baldev Raj about the entire episode.

“Even at the police station, Sunita was repeatedly asked to soften her stand, but to no avail,” said a police officer.

The SHO ensured that whatever dowry was given to the groom was returned to the bride’s family. Romesh Mahajan, Project Director, Red Cross De-addiction Centre, said they would felicitate Sunita for her courageous stand that would act as an example for other women to stand up in life and act against any injustice done to them.