Man stages his own abduction to escape arranged marriage!

Arranged marriage is a commonly seen in India. Getting two strangers to share their lives together, though criticized, is widely practised in India. Often, we come across people who protest against it. This man went a step ahead and staged his own abduction to escape the wedding his parents arranged for him.

According to Hindustan Times report, a 31-year-old software engineer allegedly staged his own abduction and demanded his parents for a ₹5 lakh ransom. The wedding was scheduled for April 23.

He texted his parents of his abduction. He travelled to different states from April 19 and gave the police a runaround. On Wednesday, he was arrested in Haryana's Sukhrali, Sector 17, when he was about to visit his paying guest (PG) accommodation to pick up his clothes, said police.

Police said the man did not want to get married as he intends to marry his girlfriend, who is currently a Delhi University student. On April 19, he told his friends that he was going to Jhansi for his wedding after giving wedding invitations to his colleagues and friends.

The police said he was expected to reach Jhansi the same day but did not. Meanwhile, his family members received a text message from his number stating that he had been abducted and also asking for a ransom of ₹5 lakh.

His mother was so shocked that she was hospitalised and his father lodged a complaint. “We got suspicious as, during technical surveillance, no other number was operational at the same spot and despite demanding ransom money, no place had been fixed for the same,” said the station house officer. It was difficult to contact him as he kept his mobile phone mostly switched off.

On Wednesday afternoon, he contacted his cousin, who lives in Noida, on his phone, after meeting whom he returned to his PG in Gurugram. The police were able to track him as his phone was switched on.

“We arrested him in the evening and will produce him in the court on Thursday. We will apply for a three-day police remand as we need to recover the mobile phone used in the crime and need to take him to the places to ensure no other person was involved,” said the station house officer.