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Indian groom facing charges after marrying twin sisters in polygamous wedding ceremony

Representative: An Indian bride’s hands decorated with henna (AFP via Getty Images)
Representative: An Indian bride’s hands decorated with henna (AFP via Getty Images)

A groom was booked under provisions of Indian law dealing with poligamy after he married a pair of twins in a public ceremony held in the southwestern state of Maharashtra.

Videos of the nuptials that took place last Friday have left some of the social media surprised and shocked, even though the families of the individuals consented to the living arrangement.

Things are, however, not looking good for the newlyweds after a criminal case was filed against the groom under charges related to polygamy.

The twins, identified as Pinky Padgaonkar and Rinky Padgaonkar, decided to marry the same man, Atul Uttam Autade, as they couldn’t bear parting from each other after marriage. The three had been living in the same house since their childhood and Mr Autade helped the family after the father of the two women passed away, the reports added.

In the 28 seconds video, widely circulated on social media, the two sisters could be seen garlanding the groom as he is lifted up by his friends.

However, a local resident, Rahul Bharat, filed a complaint against Mr Autade under the section of Indian law dealing with the offence related to remarrying during the lifetime of a spouse.

“A non-cognisable offence has been lodged. We will take the court’s permission and proceed ahead with further investigation,” Solapur rural superintendent of police Shirish Sadeshpande was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.

“The law states that a person can marry only one woman at a time. We have preliminary information that both sisters are close and wanted to stay together. Further investigation is underway.”

The outlet quoted advocate Harshad Nimbalkar, who said that the legality of their marriage should be checked against the country’s marriage act and that the protestation has to arise from the living spouse.

“Whether the marriage is legal or not has to be checked as per the Marriage Act,” said Mr Nimbalkar. “The objection to this kind of marriage has to come from the first wife. We need to first find out whether all the marriage-related rituals took place or not.”