Surat: Varachha police booked eight persons, including two brides, in a Rs 2.47 lakh marriage fraud. The accused conspired to obtain money by arranging fake marriages of Surat youths with women from Rajpipla village.
They staged all the formalities for marriage but failed to send the brides as per the deal. The gang took advantage of low marriage prospects in the youths’ community and cheated them.
According to details, complainant Himmat Vora and his friend Ravji Rupvatiya were looking for suitable brides for their sons Romit Vora and Atul Rupvatiya in the tribal area. They came in contact with Vipul Mehta (matchmaker), who had data on prospective brides from Narmada district. They went to meet Mehta on Aug 7.
Mehta showed them photos of prospective brides. They sent those photos to their sons, who sent back the pictures of the women they liked for marriage.
On Aug 8, Rupvatiya, his son Atul, Mehta, and the broker, Sanjay Gabani, set out to Bamla village near Rajpipla to meet a woman named Kunta. As Atul liked her, Gabani told Rupvatiya to give Rs 1.5 lakh for the marriage preparation.
However, Rupvatiya said he would be able to give Rs 1.2 lakh. Mehta was to receive Rs 10,000 for his help in arranging the match. Both Atul and Kunta got engaged on Aug 10.
On Aug 13, Vora took his son Romit to Poicha village near Rajpipla to see a woman named Padma. Mehta and Gabani were with him. A deal was finalised for Rs 1.30 lakh. An amount of Rs 20,000 was to be given to Mehta. Romit and Padma got engaged on Aug 15.
Meanwhile, on Aug 18, Atul and Kunta tied the knot in Umarvada village. After three days, Kunta’s family took her for the ‘Aana’ formality, a ritual where the bride visits her family’s home after the wedding. But days passed and Kunta did not return to Atul’s home. Vora and Rupvatiya developed doubts and went to Kunta’s Bhimpore village, where they found that ‘marriage gangs’ were operating from the area.
When both took up the matter with Gabani , he assured them of sending Kunta back and also getting Padma for the marriage with Romit. But Gabani kept giving excuses.
Vora filed a complaint with Varachha police. According to the complaint, he gave Rs 1 lakh cash, including jewellery, mobile, and clothes to Padma’s family at the time of engagement. He assured an additional Rs 70,000 at the time of marriage, which could not take place. On the other hand, Rupvatiya also gave Rs 1.47 lakh cash, including jewellery, clothes, and a mobile for his son’s marriage with Kunta.
Inspector R B Gojiya told TOI: “We have identified and located all the gang members, including Mehta, Gabani, the two prospective brides, their parents, and relatives. We will check if they were real parents or gang members. We suspect that they might have cheated other youths.”
