'Rich' couple forges identity to enter government-sponsored mass marriage programme

GREATER NOIDA: A racket has come to light in Uttar Pradesh where couples are forging identities to get married under the government sponsored mass marriage programmes meant for people belonging to economically weaker sections of the society.
As per a Navbharat Times investigation, a couple in the Group Wedding Programme was, not only previously married, but had substantial money to make them ineligible to participate in the mass marriage programme.
According to photographs clicked during their wedding ceremony, solemnised months ago, the girl wore a 'lehanga' worth Rs 40,000 and groom was seen in Rs 20,000 'sherwani'.
An investigation has been launched by the administration of the Cheeti-Nangla village to probe the cases of couples who might have forged their identities to participate in the government-sponsored programme.
Investigating officers are conducting door-to-door search to find out the economic status of all the people who participated in the programme. An FIR has also been registered against four out of 10 couples who were found guilty.
The case of Pinki and Mohit, the couple whose photographs are with Navbharat Times, is not named in the FIR, despite incriminating evidence against them. Their wedding photos were shown to Prem Saari Centre's owner Subhash Chandel, who said that the lehanga of bride is worth 40,000 rupees approx. and Shervani of Groom costs around 20,000 rupees. The stage decor too cost around 50,000 rupees.
According to FIR, the main culprit is Gram Pradhan's husband, Dharmendra Bhati. It is said that he gave the names of 10 couples from the village.
In police custody, Bhati claimed that he did not knew that the couples were already married.
Read the story in Hindi