₹1.5 lakh paid, but no food on wedding day; another family from Kottayam alleges catering fraud

Kottayam: Another family that was allegedly cheated by a catering service owner who failed to deliver food for a wedding has come forward with details of their experience. Bineetha and Rajesh, the mother and father of a bride who got married in Mundakayam, said Vishnu, owner of Udayam Catering in Kanjirappally, took around ₹1.5 lakh from them, leaving them deeply embarrassed in front of their guests and relatives. Earlier, a family from Kanjikuzhi had also lodged a complaint against the same catering team.

“We paid the catering owner ₹75,000 as advance. After that, he kept asking for more money at intervals. He collected around ₹1.40 lakh from us in this manner. The food was delayed on the day before the wedding. We had not even set up the stage at home. On the wedding day, we started waiting for the food from 6 a.m. He kept saying it would arrive soon, but it never came. Breakfast was supposed to arrive by 7 a.m., but it did not. We kept calling him until 9 a.m., but there was no response. It was time for us to leave for the wedding. The guests had arrived, and we wondered what’s the point in bringing food now.

“We told him that the lunch had to arrive by 10.30 a.m., or the situation would become difficult. Even at 10.30, the food had not arrived. I was calling him even while the wedding ceremony was taking place. When I asked him to at least tell us if he was not going to bring the food, he said, ‘You can place another order.’

“We did not know what to do at that point. Since it was Sunday, most hotels were closed. Everyone was running around trying to make arrangements. Eventually, we brought food for 80 people from a hotel at 26th Mile. Many people left without eating. It was unbearable. We do not want anyone else to suffer such humiliation. No compensation can make up for what happened. It was cheating. We were left in a terrible situation.

“We filed a complaint with the police. He was asked to appear at the station on Monday. He told the police too that he would come, but did not turn up. When his location was checked, he was in Ernakulam. We got to know about him through Instagram. We contacted him after watching his videos. His package appeared to include everything we needed,” the family said.

A similar complaint had earlier been raised against catering owner Vishnu. The complainant, K. Eldho, said there was information that Vishnu had allegedly cheated others in a similar manner and that a similar incident had taken place in Perumbavoor. Eldho said he had transferred money online for his son's wedding and paid Vishnu around ₹3 lakh, but the food was not delivered. A complaint was filed with the Kanjirappally police in connection with the incident.