Massive wedding fraud unearthed in UP's Ballia, brides seen garlanding themselves

The scam was unearthed after a video showing brides at a mass wedding event garlanding themselves went viral on social media.

Visuals also show some men dressed as grooms hiding their faces.

The community wedding was held on Jan 25 in the Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh.

While officials claimed that about 568 couples got married at the event, it was later found that several were paid to pose as brides and grooms.

A local alleged that both men and women were paid between Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 for posing as brides and grooms.

"Some women had no one. They were wearing the varmala (garland) themselves. We came to know that people are being paid between ₹ 500 to ₹ 2,000," Vimal Kumar Pathak said.

BJP MLA Ketki Singh was the Chief Guest at the community wedding.

On being asked about the involvement of the government officials in the alleged fraud, MS Singh said, "They informed me just two days before the event. I had suspected there was something fishy. But now a complete investigation is being done" she said.

According to the government website, the government provides Rs. 51,000 under this scheme, of which Rs. 35,000 goes to the girl, Rs. 10,000 for purchasing wedding material and Rs. 6,000 for the event.