I've recently been witness to a shocking incident. Shocking for me at least, because although I'd heard of such things happening I never imagined I'd actually see it for myself.

A close friend had put up her profile on one of the new wedding portals, the ones that have become so popular today. After corresponding with some guys for a while, she kind of developed an understanding with one of them, an army officer. They began chatting on MSN,and exchanged phone numbers, and basically began a funny long-distance thing.

He was posted somewhere in Rajasthan but his parents were in a big metro city far away. My friend and this guy used to talk regularly of getting married and stuff like that, the only problem being that his folks were against it. A caste/community issue according to him. Anyway they decided that he would keep trying to win his parents over, while she maintained a low profile for some time. This basically meant that he wouldn't tell anyone,even his best friends, about her. He never took her calls when there were people around, and used to keep his phone switched off for days on end.

My friend the innocent, kept her side of the bargain. She didn't tell anyone apart from her immediate family and 2-3 close girl friends including me. She'd call him daily, and put up with his unannounced absences and the uncertainty of the whole situation. I did tell her to find out a little more about the guy - she knew only his name, cell number and whatever little he'd told her. No unit , no address, nothing. Then there were a number of small, unrelated things.....And I being the kind of person I am, began getting suspicious.

And my worst fears did come true. We found out that the man is a cheat. Sure, he's in the army. But he gave her a wrong name and rank. Because he's already married and has a daughter to boot. When she confronted him with this, he gave her the usual sob story about having a bad marriage and wanting to get a divorce. He had the nerve to keep calling her and telling her he'd always cherish her memories. She kept getting swayed by his sweet talk, till she found out that he was trying that he was corresponding with other girls as well. God, I swear I can kill that man.
My friend is devastated. She comes from a conservative middle class family who were anyway not in favour of a love marriage. Now she loses face in front of them. And, being on the wrong side of 30, she feels she'll probably never get married now. I spend as much time as I can, telling her she's wrong. There isn't much else I can do. God, had I been in her place, that man would've regretted it till the day he died. The army can court martial an officer for such a crime. I'd have made him pay. As it is , I wonder how many other girls he's been cheating. May the b****** rot in hell.

This incident shook me. Agreed, some of the fault lies with my friend as well. She was too trusting, and too ready to fall in love. But that doesn't give anyone the right to do something like that. And an army officer !!! What the hell is wrong with this world??

If you or someone you know is into this matrimonial website thing, please please make sure that they exercise due caution. There are a lot of sick people out there. You're the only one who can protect yourself from unnecessary pain.