Groom Taken Hostage By Bride's Family Until He Pays for Wedding That Was Called Off Over Alleged Affair: 'They Are Not Letting Me Leave'

An Indian groom has been kidnapped by the family of his now former bride after it was revealed that he was having an affair with another woman, resulting in the cancellation of the wedding.

Sohanlal Yadav went missing in Uttar Pradesh days before his wedding was set to take place. His family filed a missing persons complaint but did not inform the bride's family of these developments, resulting in the bride's family continuing to make expensive preparations for the wedding.

In fact, they only learned of his disappearance on the actual night of the wedding when he did not attend the ceremony, NDTV reported.

They were then called to a local police station where Sohanlal was being held after being taken into custody by law enforcement. Sohanlal agreed to attend the wedding and left the police station to go to the bride's home.

There, however, he was told that the wedding was off and that he would only be permitted to leave once he had reimbursed the bride's family for the costs of the wedding ceremony.

"There was no problem. We just came late. They are now saying they don't want the wedding and demanding compensation for their expenses. They are not letting me leave." said Sohanlal, insisting that he never went missing.

"I had not disappeared. I was in Lucknow. My phone had stopped working. When I somehow switched it back on, the police called me and I reached the police station. I wanted to marry, but they are not ready," he continued.

The bride's father, Lal Bahadur Yadav voiced his frustrations at Sohanlal, expressing that he and his family agreed to all of Sohanlal's demands prior to the wedding.

"Three days after the Tilak ceremony, he (groom) said no to the wedding. When we asked why, he said he wanted a car. We agreed to that too. Then he said he did not want the car, but cash instead. We agreed again," explained Lal Bahadur. "We asked him if there was any other problem, and he said no. So we started the preparations."

"Under pressure, he agreed to the wedding. When he came here, the villagers wanted to beat him up. I stopped them, we fed him. He ran away three days before the wedding, he is in a relationship with another woman. He should have told us beforehand, then we would not have made such preparations," he continued.

Sohanlal remains in the custody of the bride's family. Police have been unable to reason with them and secure his release thus far.