MUMBAI: A Dharavi man's wedding had to be postponed two days before it was scheduled, after the housing society where the bride resided refused to allow the groom's family to enter the building premises on learning they were from Dharavi.
Dharavi is one of the coronavirus hotspots in the city, with 214 positive cases and 13 deaths until April 23. Altaf (name changed) had returned to the city from Kuwait in the third week of March because he was going to be married on April 25.
After his return, he had isolated himself for 14 days. Then the nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24. However, both the families decided to go ahead with the wedding as scheduled, on April 25.
A small ceremony was planned at the woman's house in Kalina, to be attended only by the groom and his parents, with the officiating Kazi.
However, when the woman's family approached their society for permission to have the ceremony, the society flatly refused, on learning that the groom and his family resided in Dharavi.
"We pleaded with the society, saying Altaf's family resided in an area which was safe but they were not ready to allow anyone to enter," said Salam Kazi, a close relative of the woman's family. "Since the society is adamant on its stand, we plan to hold the ceremony after May 3, when hopefully, the lockdown will be lifted," he added.
