Runaway groom caught out

Posted on October 11, 2007
Filed Under Family, Marriage, Social Issues

At first his family feared for his life when reports reached them that their wealthy son had been kidnapped just days before his wedding. However, it soon transpired that the 38-year-old Thai-Sikh businessman had an extreme case of pre-wedding jitters, and ran away, faking his own abduction rather than go through with the wedding.

The parents of Sutheep Saijadev told police that they believed that their son had been abducted after he failed to return their calls. The next day police in Bangkok found his abandoned Toyota Lexus covered in bloodstains, an unwound turban lying next to a smashed cell phone. Also in the car a chilling note that read: “You have caused trouble to our family, so we have taken your child.” When notified, his anxious parents naturally feared whether they would ever see their beloved son again.

However, it wasn’t long before the police forensics department established that the blood found at the scene was not from Sutheep, but from an unidentified animal, leading them to doubt that any abduction had actually taken place.

Two days later the case was cracked when a sheepish Sutheep returned to the family house, and confessed to police that he had staged the ‘abduction’ so that he wouldn’t have to go through with an arranged marriage that his family were attempting to force upon him.

During his three nights on the run Sutheep had holed up at a hotel in Bangkok, worrying not only about how to break the news to his parents that he was actually alive and well, but how to deal with their understandable anger at his escapade. Eventually, his guilt got the better of him and he decided to return home and face the music.

Police are now keeping a watch on the runaway groom, as they fear that he may harm himself, if the marriage is re-arranged. Although, whether his bride, or indeed the bride’s family, would still be keen for the union to happen after his humiliating rejection the first time remains to be seen. In the meantime prosecutors and police are putting their head together to work out whether any charges will be brought against Sutheep or his family for the false complaint.

Bangkok has a large and thriving Sikh population who have been in the city for centuries. Most run their own businesses in either clothing or property, but are very secular when it comes to marriage, with unions outside of the faith extremely rare.