Priest denies Sakhshi-Ajitesh marriage was held at Ram Janaki temple

In yet another twist to the story of Sakshi Mishra, daughter of BJP legislator Rajesh Mishra, marrying a man outside her caste, the priest of Ram Janaki temple where she reportedly got married to Ajitesh Kumar has denied that any wedding was solemnised here.

In yet another twist to the story of Sakshi Mishra, daughter of BJP legislator Rajesh Mishra, marrying a man outside her caste, the priest of Ram Janaki temple where she reportedly got married to Ajitesh Kumar has denied that any wedding was solemnised here. "No marriage takes place here and no marriage has taken place either," temple priest Parashuram Das told ANI on Saturday.

The marriage certificate, presented to validate the claims of Sakhshi's marriage to Ajitesh, mentions the name of Acharya Vishwapati Shukl and the Ram Janaki temple. The temple priest Parashuram Das, however, claims that Shukl has got nothing to do with this temple.

"This is wrong. Nothing has happened here. Nobody knows that Shukl here. This is fake. He (Shukl) has got nothing to do with this place. I have been here for 40 years now. My stamp is not there," says Das. People in the area also claimed that "the girl" is lying. "This is a lie. No marriage takes place here. She is lying," said Sarita Singh.

"These are all rumours. No marriage takes place here. No one ever came here. The girl is lying," another local Man Singh Yadav said. The certificate being presented shows that Sakshi got married to Ajitesh on July 4 this year.

"We are tired of hiding around. Our lives are in danger. Please stop troubling Abhi and his relatives. They are not at fault here. The decision is ours. I want to live free and happy," Sakshi had said in a video message to her father a few days ago. Meanwhile, another family in Bhopal has claimed that "Abhi" got engaged to one of their daughters in July 2016.

"My younger daughter got engaged to Bareilly resident Abhi on July 10, 2016. Their entire family had come here. And as they said, the engagement took place in a hotel in Bhopal," Hemant Nayak said while talking to ANI. "After that, the marriage date was fixed as December 9, 2016. Both sides made all the arrangements for marriage. Meanwhile, I got to know that his mother had expired in October 2016. I went with my entire family to Bareilly and did all works according to Hindu rituals," said Nayak.

Nayak, however, claimed that in the month of November that year, Abhi came to him and stated his intent to not marry. "I kept waiting for December. In the month of November, Abhi came to me and said - I am under pressure from family. I cannot marry. I asked him -- Tell me what kind of pressure? I will talk to them. If you (Abhi) didn't want to marry, why you made us spend so much money," Nayak said recalling the events.

Nayak claimed that neither Abhi nor his father answered his (Nayak's) questions properly. "I asked him what kind of pressure he was being subjected to. I would have tried to solve them in my own way but he did not answer these questions properly. I contacted his father too but he too did not give any satisfactory answer," Nayak said.

Nayak, who is the father of five daughters, said: "After December 2016, I am not in contact with them. Now that I have got to know that the two children have got married (Sakshi and Abhi), both of them are educated. I would like to wish them the best from my side." Nayak said that he should not be dragged in the entire controversy.

"Now for three years, that she has not got married...you can understand. What should I reply to the people...and to how many I should reply that why this marriage did not take place. Now, I am getting calls from my relatives. What should I answer? I request that I should not be dragged into it," he said. On Thursday, Sakshi had moved to the Allahabad High Court to seek police protection, citing threat to her life from her father after marrying a man from outside her caste.

The matter came to light on Wednesday after Sakshi Mishra, 23, posted a video on the social media requesting the Uttar Pradesh Police to provide security as she and her husband face a threat from her father and brother, who, she alleged, were trying to get her killed. Sakshi's lawyer Vikas Rana told the media on Thursday that the petition has been admitted by the court and the hearing has been adjourned to next week as the couple could not show up in the court today due to security concerns.

Harish Kumar, the father-in-law of Sakshi Misra, told media that he has sought police intervention in the matter after hearing from the couple that they were receiving death threats. "I didn't want to take action as it was between the families. But his [Rajesh's] men sent them a message that they'll be killed. You can see she's taking names in the video. I sent the marriage certificate and an application to SSP, Bareilly."

In his statement to media on Thursday, Rajesh Misra had denied all the allegations by her daughter and said that she is independent to make her own decision. "The reports circulating in media against me are wrong. My daughter has the right to take her own decisions. No threats to her were made by me or from anyone in my family. We are busy with our work. May she be happy wherever she is," said the BJP leader.

Mishra is the BJP MLA from Bithari Chainpur in Bareilly district. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)