Cherpu (Thrissur): A Chavakkad man suffered a heart attack after his bride eloped with her woman friend a day after their wedding.

The women were found days later in a Madurai lodge but not after sending the police and relatives on a frantic search, even as the groom battled for his life in a hospital. His condition is now stated to be stable and out of danger.

The 23-year-old woman got married to a Chavakkad youth at October 25 wedding. The newlyweds went to a bank the day after the wedding, and the woman sneaked out leaving her groom behind and went with her friend, who was waiting nearby on a scooter.

The duo rode to Thrissur railway station where they parked the two-wheeler and hired a taxi. While roaming around, they made the driver book them two train tickets to Chennai, before visiting a textile showroom.

The taxi driver waited for the women, ignorant of the fact that he had been taken for a ride, while the duo fled the showroom through another way, and hired another taxi to Kottayam. From Kottayam, they took a train to Chennai.

Later, they reached Madurai, where they stayed in a lodge for two days. They then took a train to Palakkad. The same night, they took a taxi to Thrissur, took the scooter and rode it to Ernakulam and parked the vehicle at the railway station.

Meanwhile, suspecting that the women had fled without paying, the lodge management contacted the phone number provided in the driving licence, a copy of which was provided while checking in, of the bride's friend. The number belonged to her father, who informed the police.

After parking the scooter at Ernakulam, the two women returned to the lodge where the police were waiting for them.

The bride's friend had separated from her husband 16 days after their marriage. The bride told the police that she decided to get married to raise gold and cash to fund her independent life.