Mangalore: Court issues search warrant for 'missing' bride

Media Release

Mangalore, Jan 4: The local court has issued a search warrant for a bride after her fiancé appealed to the court to search for her, alleging that she had been kidnapped by her own relatives.

Kumari Padma Bhapat, daughter of Sudhakar, a resident of Vanivada of Devagada taluk at Sindudurga district in Maharashtra was engaged to marry Mangalore’s Sriram on November 27, 2013 in the presence of their families. 

Meanwhile, relatives of the bride Prashanth Godse and Pramod Khelkar allegedly took Rs 6.5 lac from the groom by blackmailing him.  The groom transferred the amount to their bank accounts.

It is said that the bride sent several SMS messages to the groom saying that she would marry only him.  The bride and the two relatives also stayed in the house of the groom at Ballal Bagh.  However, the two relatives allegedly demanded another Rs 20 lac from the groom and kidnapped the bride after the groom refused to pay the money.

There is scarcity of brides among Brahmins and Prashanth Godse and Pramod Khelkar, relatives of the bride are said to have taken undue advantage of the situation to demand money.

The practice of showing a bride to several men and demanding money from them is said to be in existence among Brahmins in north India.  It is said that Prashanth and Pramod had prepared to show the bride to many men and force her to marry them. In view of the developments, the groom has lodged a complaint to the court.

Mangalore’s JMFC court has issued a search warrant for the bride and sought cooperation from the officials of Sindudurga police in Maharashtra.

The police are on the lookout for the bride and the complainant has announced a suitable reward for those who can locate the bride.

The complainant's telephone number is 07259488857 and that of the Barke police is 0824 2220522.  The complainant has also requested youths to beware of similar incidents.

Advocate P P Hegde is the counsel for the complainants.