Shantipur (Nadia), Feb. 14: The marriage of Balai Saha to Tulsi last Wednesday ended in a nightmare with the groom being accused of not telling the bride or her relatives that he was suffering from leprosy.

The relatives of the 19-year-old bride from Bethuadahari demanded that Saha, of Shantinagar Colony 70 km from Calcutta, pay Rs 4,00,000 for hiding some scars that they had seen on his body.

Tulsi’s relatives finally managed to make the 30-year-old groom pay Rs 50,000.

“Everything was perfect on Wednesday night — the day the main ceremony was held. After the rituals and dinner, members of both families sang and danced,” recounted Saha.

“The problem arose the next morning, when some women of Tulsi’s family asked me to take a bath in the courtyard, which is part of the rituals,” Saha said. “The moment they saw my scar, the male members were called in and they started charging that I was suffering from leprosy,” he said.

They charged Saha with not disclosing the matter to them during the discussions between the two families.

The bride’s relatives then confined the groom and his companions in a room and demanded Rs 4,00,000 from them.

Finally, after much persuasion, Saha and his relatives were set free after they paid Rs 50,000. The gold chain the groom was wearing was also taken.

Police arrested two persons, including Tulsi’s father, Gopal Saha — for extorting money from the groom, a trader of bicycles — on the basis of a complaint lodged by his relatives. “We are looking for the other culprits,” said additional superintendent of police Biswarup Ghosh.

Train runs over girl

A schoolgirl was run over by a train at Serampore railway station today, reports our correspondent from Hooghly.

Police said Swati Chandra, a Class VII student of Serampore Uchcha Balika Vidyalaya, was on her way home. She was on the platform, leaning forward to watch the Bandel-Howrah local come in.

The girl lost balance and fell on the tracks and the train then ran over her.

The 13-year-old daughter of Ubhaybharati Chakraborty, the headmistress of the school, was rushed to the Serampore Walls Hospital where she was declared dead.

Later, Swati’s father, Pradip Chakraborty, donated both her eyes to an eye clinic of Serampore, said officials of the clinic.