What was meant to be a joyous wedding celebration has turned into a scandalous family nightmare in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, after a 20-year-old groom-to-be reportedly eloped with his fiancée’s 40-year-old mother — just nine days before the ceremony.
READ ALSO: 5 cultures where women marry men – and even other women
Rahul and Shivani were all set to marry on 16 April. Invitations had been sent, guests confirmed, and wedding bells were just around the corner. But on Sunday, 6 April, the groom vanished — and he didn’t go alone. He allegedly took off with Anita, Shivani’s own mother, and to add salt to the wound, the pair are said to have made off with both the couple’s savings and the family’s jewellery.
Despite being warned by the High Court, actor Lil Win has yet to finalise a settlement with actress Martha Ankomah, who is demanding justice—not money—for what she calls a damaging public attack.
Rahul had left his home that day claiming he was heading out to shop for wedding clothes. Later that evening, he called his father and casually declared he was leaving for good — and asked him not to search for him. Around the same time, Anita was discovered missing as well. She left no note, no explanation — only an empty drawer where the family’s cash had been.
Shivani, devastated by the betrayal, told local reporters:
“I was supposed to marry Rahul on April 16, and my mother eloped with him on Sunday. Rahul and my mother used to talk on the phone a lot over the past three to four months. My mother has taken all our money. She can do what she wants now, we don’t care. All we want is that the money and jewellery should be returned to us.”
Suspicion had reportedly been brewing for a while. Both Shivani and her father Kumar had noticed the unusual closeness between Rahul and Anita, but chose to stay silent to avoid disrupting the upcoming nuptials.
Anita’s husband, Kumar, who runs a business in Bengaluru and is often away, also admitted to having doubts.
“That man would not speak to my daughter but would keep talking to my wife,” he said.
“I live in Bengaluru to run my business. I had heard that, for the past three months, they would talk to each other for 22 hours a day. I was suspicious but did not say anything because the wedding was around the corner. Anita left with the man on April 6 and took all our cash and jewellery.”
After realising what had happened, Kumar tried desperately to reach his wife and Rahul.
“I called Anita several times, but she had switched off her phone. I called the man too, but he kept denying that she was with him,” he explained.
“Hours later, he finally said that I had troubled my wife for 20 years and that I should forget about her.”
Kumar has since lodged a missing persons report, hoping police will help track down his wife and the runaway groom. Meanwhile, Shivani has been left to pick up the pieces of a wedding that never was — and a family scandal that has gripped their entire community.
