Mass wedding event: 200 fake marriages unearthed in Indian state
WeirdNews
200 couples were paid to act as brides and grooms to receive benefits from the scheme
(Web Desk) - Over 200 couples allegedly participated in fake marriage ceremonies at a mass wedding event in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia on January 25.
The police have arrested 15 people, including the officers of the Social Welfare department, in connection with the alleged scam till now.
A video of the event under the state's Mass Marriage Scheme shows brides garlanding themselves during the ceremony.
Officials said 568 couples were believed to have been wedded at the mass wedding. However, investigations later uncovered that over 200 couples were actually paid to act as brides and grooms.
A young man, aged 19, told India Today TV that he was offered Rs 2,000 to sit at the mass wedding event. However, he said he ended up not getting paid for his presence.
A probe committee under the chief development officer was constituted in the matter on January 29.
It was found in the probe that some of the beneficiaries were already married in 2023; for instance, Archana of Manikapur village who was married in June 2023. Apart from this, Ranjana Yadav and Suman Chauhan got married in March 2023, Priyanka got married in November 2023, Pooja got married a year ago, Sanju got married three years ago and Ramita got married in July 2023.
All of them are not eligible under the Chief Minister's Mass Marriage Scheme, the committee said in its report.
Ineligible applicants had applied illegally to get benefits under the scheme by hiding the actual facts, the report said.
The Social Welfare department's assistant development officer was negligent in examining the applications which led to this fraud.
District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said that the funds have not yet been distributed to the beneficiaries of the mass marriage programme held in Maniyar development block.
Under this scheme, a payment of Rs 51,000 is made of which Rs 35,000 goes to the girl, Rs 10,000 for purchasing matrimonial materials and Rs 6,000 for the event, according to the government website.
