NEW DELHI: A bridegroom in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh learnt a lesson in punctuality for the rest of his life after he ended up late for his own wedding, only to see that his bride had been married to someone else. The groom, who is known by the name of Jameel, was to marry his bride at 10.30 am on April 19. Yet he arrived at the venue at six in the evening, keeping his bride's family waiting for a good eight hours late. Afterwards, and instead of finding his loving bride awaiting him, which would have been the case had he been on time, Jameel and his wedding party got trashed by his bride's family with fists and blows until the police intervened to stop the scuffle. Being late for his own wedding proved costly for a bridegroom as he and his relatives were beaten up by irked family members of the bride who was married off to another person. After the police pacified the situation, the bride's family married their daughter to another man, leaving Jameel not only beaten and bruised, but also heartbroken. It should be mentioned that It is not uncommon in India for a bride and groom not to have seen each other until the day of the wedding, with the pair being arranged by the respective families. However, while the traditions are changing, in parts of rural India it continues to remain unchanged.
