Love, lies & facial hair: Meerut man loses wife to clean-shaven brother

What started as a minor disagreement over facial hair turned into a dramatic betrayal for a 28-year-old man in Meerut, who alleges that his wife eloped with his younger brother after he refused to shave off his beard.

Mohammad Shakir, a resident of Ujjwal Garden Colony in the Lisari Gate area, married 25-year-old Arshi from Incholi about seven months ago. According to Shakir, tensions arose right after their wedding, as Arshi expressed strong dislike for his bearded appearance and frequently urged him to shave.

"She often said she didn’t like my beard and warned she might leave me someday if I didn’t get rid of it," Shakir told police.


He initially brushed off her comments as light-hearted teasing. However, on February 3, Arshi reportedly disappeared from their home. Shakir suspects she ran away with his 24-year-old brother, Mohammad Sabir, who also lived with them and is clean-shaven. The two allegedly took personal belongings before vanishing.

Shakir said he spent three months trying to locate them, but their phones remained switched off and no clues surfaced. On Wednesday, he finally approached the police to file a missing persons complaint.

SP (City) Ayush Vikram Singh confirmed the report, stating, "The man has alleged that his wife is missing and may have eloped with his younger brother. A missing persons report has been registered, and an investigation is in progress. Action will follow based on the evidence."

An officer from the Lisari Gate police station added that technical surveillance revealed the pair's last known location to be Ludhiana, Punjab. Authorities are now coordinating with local police there to track them down.

[With inputs from TOI]