I guess ’till death to us part’ does not apply.

By Ashima Sethi

We’re all familiar with just how important the concept of a big Indian wedding is.

Preparation takes months, relatives you’ve never even met all of a sudden come out of the woodwork to attend, and close to nothing (except maybe a global pandemic) can stand in the way of the nuptials happening (unless you’re THIS couple who decided to charter a plane to get hitched mid-air, anyway).

In another strange case of going way too far to ensure the Indian wedding you’ve planned actually takes place, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a wedding was underway to marry young couple Manoj and Surabhi. All was well, with the couple completing the Jai Mala (exchange of garlands) before tragedy struck and Surabhi collapsed to the floor unconscious.

An emergency doctor was called but despite his efforts, the bride was pronounced dead at the scene of a heart attack. Both families then had a conversation about what was thought to be the appropriate next step, to which they agreed that Surabhi’s younger sister Nisha would go ahead and marry Manoj instead (!?). A decision motivated by the fact that the groom’s family was still expecting a dowry and that the bride’s family had shelled out a lot of money to host the event.

Most bizarre of all was the fact that Surabhi’s body was placed in an adjacent room while the festivities continued, and she was then cremated after the wedding ceremony was complete. According to media reports, Saurabh, the late bride’s brother’ was quoted as saying, “We really didn’t know what to do in the situation,” while her uncle Ajab, said that “We have never witness such mixed emotions” and that the decision was a very difficult one for the entire family.

The story has since gone viral all over the globe.