Elizabeth Hurley's Bad Big Day
It's a good thing the weddings lasted so long, 'cause the honeymoon is definitely over.
A Jodhpur gadfly has filed a complaint against newlyweds Elizabeth Hurley and Arun Nayar, claiming their Indian wedding last month "made a mockery of Hindu customs."
Rather than simply being culturally insulting, their ceremony could also prove to be illegal. Hurley and Nayar could spend up to three years in jail if they are found in violation of Indian Penal Code 295 A, which deems it a law-breaking offense to upset religious feelings with "deliberate and malicious intention."
Exactly what did Hurley and Nayar do to incite such legal action? Among other indiscretions, they wore shoes.
Per Hindu tradition, it is customary that the bride and groom remove their footwear before walking around the "sacred fire," an important part of the religion's wedding festivities in which the couple walk around the fire, placing offerings around the flames and pledging love and loyalty to one another.
According to the complaint, lodged by one Vishnu Khandelwal, an apparently eagle-eyed tabloid reader who filed the petition after seeing pictures of the new bride in Hello! magazine, Hurley, either by refusal or neglect, failed to remove her leather kicks.
Further, the couple reportedly drank alcohol before their vow swap, another Hindu no-no. But most egregiously, the complaint alleges, Hurley and Nayar should not have been allowed to hold a ceremony in India at all, not least because Hurley failed to fully convert to Hinduism.
The 41-year-old model and the 42-year-old textile heir first held civil and religious services in the English countryside before their ceremony in Jodhpur on Mar. 9. The complaint also argues that the multipe trips down the aisle would not normally be acceptable in Hindu custom.
"This was a marriage for commercial purposes, but at the cost of religious feelings," Hasti Mal Sarawat, the attorney for Khandelwal, said in the complaint.
But the religious activist isn't the only out to mar the model's big day—or at least, one of her big days.
Doing his part to ensure ultra-awkward tension around the holidays, Nayar's father, and Hurley's new father-in-law, Vinod Nayar has also joined the fray, siding with the scandalized reader over his own flesh and blood.
The elder Nayar, who became estranged from his son after the wedding week in which he both publicly disowned the newlywed yet still showed up for the ceremony, has contacted Sarawat and offered to disclose "some important facts" that could help their case against the couple. He said he was willing to both testify and submit written statements in the case.
He fell out with his son during a wedding festivity in which the elder Nayar attempted to take photos of the goings-on. As the story reported widely in both Indian and British media goes, Hurley and her hubby had banned guests from taking snapshots during the bash as, should they get leaked to the press, it could threaten their reportedly million dollar exclusive deal with Hello!
After Nayar was spotted taking pictures, they had his camera, and, per some reports, he himself, removed from the celebration. He cried public humiliation, and thus the estrangement was born.
There's no time line as for when the complaint may be heard in Indian court, and while three witnesses have already stepped forward in support of Khandelwal, the court has yet to decide whether any charges will actually be filed.
In the event that they are, it's possible, though unlikely, that the star couple will face jail time and may instead simply be fined.
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