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India Couple Torch Car, Fire Weapons Into the Air to Announce Marriage

New Delhi (Sputnik): A newly-married couple in India startled many by announcing their decision to wed in a unique way: setting their car on fire and firing weapons into the air to draw maximum public attention, particularly that of the authorities.
Sputnik

The bride, Anujla Sharma, already married with three children, was involved with the groom, Shubham Choudhary, who was earlier set to marry another woman. But just when his affair was exposed, he and Anjula announced that they would wed.

The incident occurred in the Indian town of Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh.

As the couple set their car ablaze and fired multiple rounds of gunshots, they quickly drew the attention of shocked passersby and brought traffic to a standstill. The woman kept loading the firearm and handing it over to the man.

The area also houses offices of senior officials and a court.

The couple was speedily arrested, according to media reports, however, a police official alleged that the couple appeared to be mentally unstable.

Police said the man was accompanied by his mother and his fiancee’s three children.

“Anything could have happened had we not controlled the situation in time,” a police official was quoted saying to Times of India.

The firearm was found to have been acquired illegally and the bride and groom were booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Many in Uttar Pradesh have used celebratory live gunfire as a public expression of strength or power, usually during festive occasions. It is not clear what kind of collateral damage regularly occurs when the bullets return to earth.

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