Traditional Indian wedding finery gave way to hazmat suits and masks in a remote north Indian village. Why? The bride tested positive for the coronavirus just hours before her marriage, a local health official said.
The couple decided to go ahead with the ceremony on Sunday. No one knows their real names, The wedding happened in the courtyard of the COVID quarantine center in the state of Rajasthan. They were wearing their protective gear giving it an otherworldly feel.
The ceremony happened under a bright red canopy and in front of the holy fire. The bride and groom exchanged garlands wearing matching blue hazmat suits, visors, and face masks.
Couple marries in PPE kit
The priest was looking like an astronaut in a white hazmat suit and matching hood. He chanted verses from Hindu scriptures while traditional wedding songs played in the background.
The bride is now in a center to get treatment for coronavirus. She and a family member tested positive, health official Rajendra Meena told Reuter’s partner ANI.
“We consulted with the families and they agreed to get married in the quarantine centre without any elaborate rituals,” he said.
Later, both the bride and groom were placed in isolation at the center.
Weddings in India are often an elaborate and noisy affair, with hordes of relatives and other guests taking part in celebrations. But several states have imposed restrictions around numbers allowed at marriage gatherings.
India has the world’s second highest COVID-19 caseload after the United States, with over 9.6 million confirmed cases.
Infections have fallen since hitting a peak in September in spite of a busy festival season last month, which saw bustling markets and crowded streets full of shoppers.
Some people are just not canceling their wedding events even during coronavirus times. Earlier, Karachi police arrested a groom who was desperate for marriage during COVID-19. On the other hand, a heartless husband pushed his wife from a building after she got the virus.
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