Chennai, May 24 (IANS): A mid-air marriage at Madurai has turned into a major controversy with social media criticizing the wedding in the air as well as not adhering to Covid protocols.

When the couple from Madurai decided to tie the knot by chartering an aircraft on Sunday, they did not expect their marriage to snowball into a major issue. While the state is not allowing more than 50 people to participate in a wedding, this high profile marriage according to sources had 161 people on the flight.

The marriage flight according to Madurai airport sources took off at 7 a.m. on Sunday from the Madurai international airport and was airborne for 2 hours. According to information, the couple tied the knot while the flight was exactly above the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple.

Social media has erupted with criticism after the video of the couple tying the knot with the "Nadaswaram" being played in the background, ignoring all the Covid protocols with close relatives not properly wearing the masks.

Muruganandan, 26, an IT professional at Chennai while speaking to IANS said, "This extravaganza while the state and the world are going through a deadly pandemic with thousands losing their lives and many battling for lives, is intolerable. This should not have happened and authorities must take stringent action against these people who have not adhered to the Covid protocols and the authorities who allowed this to take place must also be brought to book including the chartered flight operator."

Madurai Superintendent of Police Sujith Kumar said that the police is probing the incident and will decide whether a case should be registered. Meanwhile Madurai airport authorities said that the private airline had applied for the charter flight service and the airport authority had approved it.

The district collector said that an inquiry is on regarding the mid-air marriage.