adminAn Indian sweet maker made sure his daughter truly was the golden girl on her wedding day by covering her in gold jewellery worth more than £400,000.
The wedding took place in the holy city of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh state, with the father of the bride — whose name has not been released — almost upstaging his daughter by showing off his own huge collection of his own gold chains.
So conspicuous was the pair’s flaunting of their wealth that the local police force sent a guard of officers to the wedding to ensure they weren’t attacked and robbed as the wedding party travelled through poverty-stricken neighbourhoods on their way to and from the ceremony.
Police spokesman Sandeep Kumar in Tirupati — a holy city known for its famous temple of Lord Vishnu — confirmed that the man and his daughter had worn gold jewellery throughout the ceremony.
“It is not a crime to wear such a large amount of gold, but there could have been a crime once people heard about it. We just wanted to make sure there were no problems in advance,” he said.
The father of the bride reportedly made his millions from selling confectionery in India’s southern Andhra Pradesh state. Neither his nor his daughter’s names have been made public.
The move was widely condemned on social media sites once the images from a mobile phone was shared, with people branding it both crass and shocking.
Others said the pair should be humiliated by so an unapologetic display of wealth in a country where millions of families struggle to find enough money to feed themselves every day.
Indians are one of the world’s largest consumers of gold, with wealthy families often spending tens of thousands of pounds jewellery to wear at weddings and other special occasions.
Recently several wealthy Indians have been seen wearing shirts made out of solid gold thread.
In August Pankaj Parakh, a politician and the owner of a textile business near Mumbai, treated himself to a shirt made out of solid gold for his 45th birthday.
Weighing four kilos and costing £127,000, the shirt was 18-22 carat purity and took a team of 20 people 3,200 hours to create.
“Gold always fascinated me since I was five years old and studying in school. Over the years, I have become passionate about this royal metal,” Parakh said.
“Yet, for my marriage 23 years ago, many guests considered me an embarrassment as I sported more gold than the bride,” he added. — DailyMail.
Online Reporter