London, Feb 1 (IANS) A sham double wedding collapsed when one of the bogus brides was unable to identify the Indian man she was due to marry, Daily Mail reported Wednesday.
The registrar had become suspicious when he was asked to marry two Lithuanian women to two Indian men. All involved in the crime were given prison sentences.
His initial fears were confirmed when the couples turned up at the register office and were unable to communicate with their betrothed.
Immigration officers were called and the whole wedding party was arrested, together with the organiser who had set them up.
On Tuesday, a court was told that Indian-born Manpreet Singh, 27, and Jasbir Singh, 21, had arranged to marry Lithuanian girls Oskana Alexsandraviciute, 27, and Sandra Beleckaite, 21, at Wrexham register office.
By marrying two European residents, the Indian men would have been allowed to remain in Britain.
As the couples waited for the ceremony, it became clear that neither bride nor groom spoke the same language and could not understand each other.
Tipped off by the register office, immigration officials swooped and asked one of the Lithuanian 'brides' to point out her husband-to-be.
When she identified the wrong man, the whole group was arrested on the spot, the Mail said.
Manpreet Singh and Jasbir Singh were jailed for 12 months and 11 months, respectively, while their two 'brides', Alexsandraviciute and Beleckaite, all from Wolverhampton, were jailed for 304 days each - meaning they walked free due to time spent on remand.
Organiser Jaspal Sahota, 51, a respected community elder, was jailed for two years and two months.
The Indian men will be deported when they have served their sentences.
Suleikha Snyder
Poorna Jagannathan
Nathalia Kaur
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