A Bangladeshi man who held his wedding at the auspicious moment of 11:11 am on November 11 had his hopes of a long and happy life with his wife dashed when she left him minutes after the ceremony. Shawkat Khan said he did not know why his new bride walked out, but Farzana Yasmin said she was angered by a demand from his family for dowry gifts including a fridge and a television.

"To make the occasion special, I even published pricey cards, inviting friends and relatives to join the wedding," Khan, 32, said, explaining the event was timed to be held 11:11 on 11/11/11. "The wedding took place at a mosque exactly at that time," Khan, a school headteacher, said, adding he had believed 11 to be his lucky number.

Yasmin, 27, has been hailed by many Bangladeshis for taking a stand against dowries. "I disowned him because I don't want to end up like thousands of Bangla-deshi dowry victims," Yas-min, who has become a media sensation in Bangladesh, said. Local police chief Babul Akhter supported her claims.