Meet the couple giving new meaning to ‘made in heaven.’
By Ashima Sethi
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered an investigation after a couple, Rakesh and Dakshina, were pictured exchanging vows on board a privately chartered SpiceJet plane, unbeknownst to airport officials. The SpiceJet Boeing 737 flight took off from Madurai Inernational Airport in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and was in the air for approximately two hours where the couple finalised their vows while flying over the Meenakshi Amman Temple. The flight then landed in Bengaluru.
According to insider reports, the ‘mid-air marriage’ saw over 160 friends and family in attendance, none of whom abided to COVID-19 social distancing regulations and mask etiquette. This comes during a time in which that state government has established a rule that banned gatherings of more than 50 people as its healthcare system is buckling due to overwhelming number of cases and healthcare workers are overworked and falling ill in droves.
Now that photos from the nuptials have gone viral, the decision to have the wedding has been met with mixed feedback from netizens. Those who have condemned the marriage have demanded the airline answer for allowing such a careless thing to happen, to which Airport Director S Senthil Valavan said that the airline had to have applied for a private charter flight service that went through an approval process with the airport authorities. However, authorities have come forward to say that they were not made aware that the marriage was taking place, stating that it was a clear violation of ongoing pandemic precautionary measures. They have assured that the ‘appropriate action’ will be taken in light of this discovery.
The pandemic has forced countless couples across the world to cancel and postpone their weddings due to travel restrictions and the general safety of their guests, but on the other end of the spectrum, some are finding crafty loopholes to go ahead with their weddings anyway. Safe to say, we do not condone hosting a wedding during this time, even in a situation where international ground laws don’t apply!
Featured photo credited to News 18.
