Srinagar, Sep 19 (IANS): Leaving the bride and the father of seven daughters in the lurch, a groom played truant on his wedding day in J&K’s Pulwama district on Monday.

Residents of Kandizal Village of Pulwama’s Awantipora area were left stunned when the groom Fayaz Ahmad did not turn up for his wedding.

The bride’s father Muhammad Shaban, who had made all the arrangements with great difficulty to receive the ‘baraat’ of his daughter, was in a state of despair.

Muhammad Shaban’s family and the guests waited endlessly for the groom who did not have the basic decency to inform the bride’s family about his shocking last-minute decision not to turn up.

Neighbours of the family said the ‘Nikah’ (Islamic wedding ritual) had been performed four years ago and Fayaz Ahmad was just supposed to come with the ‘baraat’ and take the bride home.

“The poor father of seven daughters had managed to buy some gold and wedding clothes for his daughter. He had also made arrangements for the ‘Wazwan’ (traditional multi-course Kashmiri feast) for the ‘baraat’ and his guests when he found that the groom was not coming.

“This humiliation is too much for Muhammad Shaban and his family to bear”, locals said.

They said that it was the social responsibility of the police to intervene and come to the rescue of the family of the bride.