Teen heartbroken after arranged wedding goes awry

A teenage girl is now humiliated and heartbroken after her New York-based husband repudiated their arranged marriage before it had been legalised over the weekend.

The girl has since accused the man of physically abusing her, and the police have said they are looking to arrest him for questioning as investigations continue.

The girl, who resides on the Corentyne Coast, was matched with the groom by his grandmother two years ago, and her parents had given their consent. The wedding, first scheduled for last August, was delayed until this month, following the illness of someone close to the groom. The wedding celebrations were held at the home of the young bride’s grandmother at Rosignol, West Coast Berbice on Sunday, April 10, according to Hindu rites.

On Monday, April 18th, the girl’s mother and aunt told this publication that the 24-year-old groom’s grandmother had asked the family to arrange for all celebrations to be held at one location.

The girl’s mother explained that her cane cutter husband had so wanted to give his child a good send-off that he took a bank loan of Gy$250,000 to offset the expenses of the wedding.

The arrangement began to fall apart on the very night of the marriage, when the bride fled from the honeymoon room. Her aunt told this publication that the girl came downstairs crying, and when relatives intervened, she alleged that the groom wanted to perform unnatural sexual acts on her and she had refused.

The young girl was quickly persuaded to return to her husband in the honeymoon room, but the problems escalated. The following Tuesday, April 12th, the girl departed her grandmother’s home at Rosignol to begin residing at the home of the groom’s grandmother with the rest of the groom’s family. On Thursday night, April 14th, the girl reportedly found the man smoking marijuana. In protest, she dumped a large quantity of the substance, and this aggravated her husband, who allegedly gave her a thrashing. She escaped their matrimonial room, hoping to find refuge in the company of her new family, but was allegedly physically abused by her grandmother-in-law, whilst another female relative told her to “shut your mouth!”

Eventually, on Friday, April 15th, the teenager’s mother was summoned to her daughter’s matrimonial home, and was told to take her daughter away, because she was not a virgin, and that the wedding arrangement had been called off.

Speaking with Guyana Times International at the Central Police Station in New Amsterdam, the child’s relatives expressed grave regret over the situation. “He fooled us! Because they did not spend a cent, molested the child, and now he dump her,” the teenager’s aunt said. She added that the groom’s family has reclaimed the wedding dress, a bottle of perfume, and other items presented to the bride on the wedding day.

The groom and his relatives have since fled Springlands, Corentyne, Berbice and are reportedly staying with a female relative in Canje, East Berbice. Those who came for the wedding are expected to return to New York on Friday, April 22nd. Speaking to a senior detective at Central Police Station, this publication was advised that the police cannot take any action against the groom for rejecting the bride, because she is above the age of 16. However, an arrest will be made shortly for the assault allegations.