Groom's family asked to pay medical bills after wedding leaves 1 dead, 15 COVID-infected  

The urgency to conduct a lavish wedding with guests amid the COVID-19 pandemic has cost a groom’s family in Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district a huge price – the death of the groom’s grandfather, a fine of ₹6 lakh, and an order to bear the treatment cost of 15 infected guests and the isolation fee of 58 quarantined guests.

According to NDTV, the family which flouted COVID-19 protocol during the wedding conducted on June 13, has been asked to pay a fine of ₹ 6.26 lakh, and the fee for the treatment – food, services at isolation ward, cost of tests and use of ambulance – of the 15 infected people as well as the quarantine cost of 58 others.

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The report said the father of the groom, a well-known businessman in the Bhadada area of Bhilwara had promised to follow social distancing measures, use of masks and sanitisers during the wedding while getting permission for the wedding.

But the wedding included three functions with a guest list of more than 1,000.

However, a cluster was discovered when the district administration found on June 19 that one of the guests had tested positive for COVID-19. On contact tracing, 16 people including the bride, the groom, the groom’s father and grandfather tested positive. The grandfather succumbed to the disease.

Fifty-eight other guests have been quarantined at government facilities.

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The district collector fined the groom’s family and an FIR was filed against them for violating COVID-19 guidelines under the Rajasthan Epidemic Diseases and the National Diaster Management Act.

The state has recorded 18,014 COVID-19 cases so far.