Groom filmed beating his new wife over the head at their wedding faces just 15 days in jail
A spiteful groom who punched his wife in the head on their wedding day after she beat him at a party game has been charged over the attack.
The man, who has not been named, beat his betrothed after she won a race to unwrap sweets that had been organised by guests at their wedding in the southern region of Surkhandaryo on June 6, with footage going viral online.
Video drew the attention of Saida Mirziyoyeva, daughter of the country’s president, who condemned the attack – prompting police to track the couple down.
Officers say the man has now been charged with ‘hooliganism’ but is facing just 15 days in prison and a fine if found guilty.
A committee in the Uzbek legislature’s upper house said the young man had ‘apologised to the bride and expressed regret at his actions’ at a neighbourhood hearing attended by community elders and relatives of the couple.
‘On the same day, the bride and groom reconciled and now live together,’ the committee said.
After being struck, footage captured an obviously distraught bride putting her head in her hands before being led off the stage by another woman.
The groom remained on stage looking out at the silenced guest as if nothing had happened, as his best man stood alongside him fidgeting with his phone.
Uzbekistan has a history of arranged marriages, although these are less common today. It is unclear if this was an arranged marriage.
Bizarrely, it is not the first time a video has emerged showing a groom lashing out at his new wife in the country.
In 2019, a clip of a similar incident in Uzbekistan caught the public’s attention, which saw a groom angrily lashing out at his bride after she teased him by pretending to take his wedding cake away.