Couple Try To Hoodwink Authorities By Remarrying

A married couple who tried to hoodwink authorities by tying the knot in a mass marriage function in order to collect Rs 5000/- as a reward have been hauled away to jail.

Akil and Sitara from Vidisha district were married 15 years ago and have three children.

But they decided to "remarry" when they learnt about the government's mass marriage promotion scheme under which Rs.5,000 is given to newly married couples for initial household expenses.

The department of social justice had launched the scheme, called 'Deendayal Antodyaya Mission', on April 30 to help disabled, poor and destitute women to get married.

Driven by the need and greed for money, the couple changed their identities and claimed to be Harnam Singh and Kesharbai and registered themselves at the camp organised Thursday at the Ramlila Mela ground in Vidisha town.

However, they were caught before they could tie the knot - for the second time.The officials conducting the camp developed doubts when Akil could not tell his assumed name correctly.

"First he said his name was Bhagwan Singh, and later he identified himself as Harnam Singh," sub-divisional magistrate Shailendra Khare told IANS.

"His wife Sitara also identified herself as Kesharbai. But on sustained interrogation both broke down and revealed their actual names," said the police, who arrested them on charges of cheating the government.

Source: Indo-Asian News Service