The wild pranks played on the bride or the groom on the wedding day by their close friends and kin is a trend that evolved slowly in Kerala. However, the vogue of freakish jokes, of late, has grown to an extreme level that it goes overboard quite often, leading to unpleasant scenes and even clashes.
In view of rising instances of such unruly scenes at wedding venues over ragging rituals that cross the limits, the Kerala police have issued warning against disrupting the law and order situation by wedding day pranks.
Instances of bullying bride and groom on their wedding day by a group of friends have often led to criticisms from various quarters. In a note posted on Facebook, the Kerala police said that such incidents, in the recent times, have turned out to be breaking the laws and often end up in scuffle between the wedding parties.
Wedding day ragging has become so common these days that the videos of such incidents are viral on the social media. Recently, a groom made his entry to the wedding venue in a coffin, to the utter shock of the bride and her family.
In another video, a groom was seen overturning the table at the feast in a rage after being mocked by his friends. Such incidents are being criticized on the social media for its arrogant nature which even hurt the bride, the groom and their familes.
The Kerala police, in its Facebook post, observes that incidents of bullying and ragging mar the happiness and excitement of the wedding day and often disrupts the law and order situations. At times it crosses the lines and turns into something crass and dangerous as well. The police say that such incidents, taking place in the name of wedding celebrations, have now become a major social evil.
“On the wedding day, the bride and groom are forced, like ragging in a college, to perform strange antics. Waylaying the couple’s car and making them walk for miles, replacing their footwear with battered and old ones, making them ride a bicycle or travel in a goods carrier or even an earth mover, bursting crackers on their way are done as part of a wedding day jokes,” observes the police.
The FB post says that such incidents may at times lead to unfortunate episodes as well. Consuming alcohol, causing public nuisance by bursting fire crackers or conducting road shows cause trouble between the wedding parties and the people in the locality.
The police stressed that lots of complaints about such wedding jokes are being filed at various police stations. It noted that such ‘funny’ instances done for amusement turns into sadistic pleasure when one finds happiness in others discomfort. These instances of wedding day bullying have become so common and popular in Kerala these days. It is in fact the past actions of the groom which prompts his friends to take ‘revenge’ on his wedding day, noted the police in the post. He may have bullied his friend on the latter’s wedding day and now he pays the price for it.
“In many cases, wedding day bullying ends up in scuffle and sometimes even the marriage gets shattered. There have been instances when such ragging has caused severe mental distress for the bride and thus sought a divorce on the wedding day itself. Besides, these people fail to understand the pain and struggle suffered by the couple’s parents as well. It is often the relatives and people of the locality who choose to remain silent, despite having a problem with the behavior of the friends, which helps the trouble makers thrive,” wrote Kerala police on its Facebook page.
The post ends on a note of advice that such ‘fun’, organized by the friends for the couple, shouldn’t cast a shadow over the lives of the newly wedded bride and groom.
