A family went through a strange mix of emotions as two people tied the knot whilst one of their loved ones lay dead in the next room. The day began with family members gathering together to see the wedding of bride, Surabhi, and groom, Mangesh Kumar, in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. Things were going just as planned until the bride collapsed right in the middle of the rituals.
Surabhi was soon pronounced dead and “as per the doctor, the bride died of heart attack,” said her relatives, according to Times of India. As the family just began coming to terms with the loss, they were confronted by the groom, who asked them if they would let their younger daughter marry him. According to The Sun, the bride’s mother also made an appeal to have the wedding go forward as planned with her younger daughter taking Surabhi’s place.
Bride in India Dies at Wedding, Groom Marries Her Sister Instead https://t.co/yoWU2XzhM4
— TMZ (@TMZ) June 3, 2021
“We did not know what to do in the situation. Both the families sat together and someone suggested that my younger sister, Nisha should be married to the groom. The families discussed the matter and both agreed,” Surabhi’s brother, Saurabh, told IANS, as reported by News18. Keeping Surabhi’s dead body in one room, the family let Nisha replace her sister and take Mangesh as her husband. “it was a bizarre situation as the wedding of my younger sister was being solemnized while the body of my dead sister was lying in another room,” the bride’s brother said about the unusual setting, according to Times of India.
Bride Dies Mid-Marriage Ceremony — Groom Marries Her Sister Instead https://t.co/vP64e0I9Lr #bride #bridetobe
— thetotalplug (@thetotalplug) June 5, 2021
Once the marriage ceremony was over, the family performed the dead daughter’s last rites. “It was a tough call for our family,” said Surabhi’s uncle Ajab Singh, as quoted by News18. “One daughter lay dead in one room and the wedding of another daughter was being solemnized in the other room. We have never witnessed such mixed emotions. The grief over her death and the happiness of the wedding has yet to sink in.”
ADVERTISEMENT
In India, arranged marriages are extremely common and “they wanted to keep it in the family,” said Radha Patel about the reason the families got the younger sister married to the groom, according to USA TODAY. “So much vetting goes into matching families in marriages and it is natural for the families to want to stay together,” said Radha, who is the founder of Single to Shaadi, a South Asian matchmaking website.
ADVERTISEMENT
Radha also revealed that her own mother went through a similar situation years back. After her aunt died during childbirth, her mother was asked by their parents if she would accept her brother-in-law as her husband. But Radha’s mother refused to do so.
Following the wedding between Nisha and Mangesh, Surabhi’s other brother, Gaurav spoke about the grief their mother was going through. “Mummy is in a lot of pain,” he told the Daily Mail. “She calls for her day in and day out as she was the eldest daughter. She had dreamed of doing wonders in her life. May she rest in peace.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Cover image: Representationa (Source: Getty Images | Photos by (L) Zero Creatives and (R) RichLegg)
