Angul: A case was registered against a groom and his family on Wednesday night after he did not turn up at his wedding allegedly because the bride's family denied him Rs 1 crore as dowry.

The man is a software engineer working in the US. The woman is in the same profession and works in Bangalore.

The couple was supposed to scheduled to get married on Wednesday at a kalyan mandap in Tamada.

However, despite waiting for several hours, the groom did not turn up for the wedding after his last-minute demand of Rs 1 crore as dowry was not fulfilled, the family members of the bride alleged.

"My family had earlier paid Rs 20 lakh as dowry but the family of the groom demanded another Rs 1 crore. It was beyond our expectation and my father expressed his unwillingness to pay the amount. For which he did not turn up for the marriage venue," alleged the girl.

The girl later lodged a formal complaint with the police.

A case of cheating and dowry demand has been registered against the bridegroom Shantisurup Das, his father Gourahari Das and mother Binodini Das.

Sub-divisional police officer (Angul) Harihar Pani said the police had begun an investigation after registering a case.

"As soon as we received the complaint, we checked the residence of the groom but he was not there. We will also write to the regional passport office to ensure that he is not able to leave the country," said Pani.

Demanding action against the man, the woman said: "The marriage had been fixed and we had distributed cards to friends and relatives. The last-minute demand for dowry left us in shock. The groom must pay for the damage caused to our social prestige."