(ANSA) Brindisi, September 3 - Hundreds of Italians have
written to the mayor of the Puglian town of Fasano protesting
the lavish wedding that was starting Wednesday of Indian iron
magnate Pramod Agarwal's daughter in the home region of the two
Italian marines awaiting trial in India.
"Let them marry anywhere but not in Puglia," the emails
said, including one from Admiral Giuseppe Nardini, pointing out
that marines Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre, who are
locked in a long-running international dispute over charges they
shot and killed an Indian fisherman, hail from the southern
region.
The Bollywood-style, three-day extravaganza climaxing the
marriage of Agarwal's daughter Ritika and bridegroom Rohan Meta
was beginning Wednesday evening and will feature at least two
elephants and 800 guests "representing 20% of Indian GDP between
them," the mayor, Lello Di Bari, explained.
"These controversies are absurd," Di Lello said, "a mayor
can't stop a wedding".
The mayor said he will wear a yellow ribbon to recall the
plight of the marines languishing in the Italian Embassy in
Delhi but he added "such wedding parties only bring positive
publicity, they are good for our area".
By Wednesday afternoon the bride and groom were ensconsed in
one of two enormous structures that have been especially built,
and local English-speaking girls have been hired to shower the
bridal party with flower petals.
The couple was due to move later to the local district of
Pettolecchia where the fairytale wedding ceremony was due to be
held in a sprawling villa belonging to a Swiss banker.
Agarwal's daughter Vineeta in 2011 tied the knot at the
Venice San Clemente Palace Hotel during a 72-hour celebration
that took six months of planning and a staff of 500 and featured
50 flower-entwined Murano glass chandeliers, two golden elephant
statues, and a blimp.
Security has been beefed up for the latest wedding against
possible protests, the town hall said, but the main threat to
the extravaganza evidently was unseasonal bad weather.
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