ELURU: A bridegroom’s family ran away with his dowry just before the wedding at Yerraguntapalli village in Chintalapudi mandal. Pali Madhavi of Tirugudumetta in Tallapudi mandal was betrothed to Yarramala Rajesh at the latter’s house in Yerraguntapalli on August 25. The wedding was scheduled to take place at a church in Yerraguntapalli on September 23.
The parents of the bride agreed to give `10 lakh and half an acre of agriculture land as dowry to the groom’s family. They paid `6.7 lakh as advance. When the bride’s family reached Yerraguntapalli on Saturday, they found the groom’s house locked. His neighbours told them that Rajesh and his family members left the village two days ago. Cheated, the bride’s family staged a dharna at the house. The bride’s father Pali Venkatrao lodged a police complaint against the groom.