Reluctant bride agrees to marry man of parent's choice

The case of a reluctant bride, whose ill-treatment by her father in full public view at a marriage hall had evoked wide outrage, ended on Thursday with the girl agreeing to marry the man chosen by her parents.

Devi, the 18-year-old girl, had walked out of the marriage at a wedding hall in Rajahmundry town on February 22, minutes before she was to enter into the wedlock.

She was beaten by her father at the Mandap as relatives and guests gathered for the wedding watched in disbelief.

Following public outrage over the incident, the local police registered a case and the state Women's Commission summoned the parents and the bride to record their statements.

Accompanied by her parents and the bridegroom, Devi arrived in Hyderabad earlier on Thursday and met the Commission Chairperson Mary Ravindranath.

"It was my mistake to have refused marriage at the last minute, causing embarrassment to my parents," she told the Commission and declared her willingness to marry the person arranged by her parents.

Devi's father Appa Rao, who expressed regrets for having beaten up his daughter in a fit of rage, said the marriage would be arranged at the earliest.

"Now that the family has reached a compromise, there will be no case against any one," Ravindranath said.

The unsavoury incident had occured during the mass marriage programme "Kalyanamastu" organised by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams. As part of this programme, the TTD had performed marriages of 5,174 couples at various TTD Kalyana Mandapams across the state.