A man in India married the sister of his arranged bride after his would-be wife collapsed and died during the wedding ceremony, the Times of India reported.
Mangesh Kumar was supposed to wed a woman named Surabhi on May 27 when she collapsed during the ceremony, the Times of India reported. She was rushed to a medical facility in India where she was declared dead on arrival as the result of a heart attack. (RELATED: Groom Dies Days After Wedding In India, Reportedly Leaves 100 People Infected With Coronavirus)
Indian Wedding/ Getty Images
After Surabhi was declared dead, the bride and groom’s families met and came to an agreement that her younger sister, Nisha, would wed Mangesh instead. The ceremony took place immediately while the body of Surabhi was still in another room. Arranged marriages are a cultural norm in India, as nearly 90% of all weddings are, according to CBS News.
“We did not know what to do in the situation. Both the families sat together and someone suggested that my younger sister Nisha should be married to the groom. The families discussed the matter and both agreed,” Surabhi’s brother Saurabh told news agency IANS.
“It was a bizarre situation as the wedding of my younger sister was being solemnized while the body of my dead sister was lying in another room,” Saurabh said.
“We have never witnessed such mixed emotions,” Surabhi’s uncle Ajab Singh said to News 18. “The grief over her death and the happiness of the wedding has yet to sink in.”