A runaway bride, and poorer by Rs 75,000

Not all marriages are made in heaven, as 35-year-old Dinesh Gada recently discovered.

Not all marriages are made in heaven, as 35-year-old Dinesh Gada recently discovered.

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Gada’s to-be-wife, whom he met through a marriage bureau, disappeared with cash and jewellery worth over Rs 75,000, about a month after their wedding reception – on which he had spent another Rs 2 lakh.

Gada claims Gomti Indra (40), a marriage bureau agent, approached him at a community event about six months ago. November last year, she managed to convince him to see Malad-based Kavita Shah (27) as a prospective bride.

Kavita’s parents visited Gada’s house in the first week of November and agreed to the marriage. Indra took Rs 50,000 from him as her fees. “Indra convinced me and my family to keep the marriage reception on November 10, despite the court wedding being scheduled for eight days later,” says Gada, who works in a radium-making unit in south Mumbai.

About 300 relatives and friends attended the reception. “Kavita didn’t let me touch her all those months, saying the agent had advised against it till we were legally married,” Gada says, adding: “The court marriage never happened. The agent gave me excuses every time I spoke to her. Kavita went to her mother’s place in December, taking with her cash and jewellery worth over Rs 75,000. She never returned.”

Kavita’s brother Bhavesh refuted the allegations, saying since his sister is not legally married to Gada, she is not bound to stay with him. “Some of the jewellery my sister was wearing has been stolen, and I promise to repay the amount.”

“I am trying to settle the dispute between them,” Indra said.