KUALA LUMPUR - A groom-to-be was punched in a scuffle that broke out during a solemnisation ceremony in a mosque in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday (March 26).

The ceremony was stopped because the 27-year-old man was unable to come up with the amount for the bride's dowry, which had earlier been agreed at RM15,000 (S$5,100).

The man was hit by one of the bride's relatives when he and his family decided to leave the mosque.

A video of the fight went viral after it was posted on Facebook by Kosmo! Online, showing the family members shouting and hurling insults at one another. The bride-to-be was even seen pulling the headscarf of another woman.

A source told The New Straits Times that the man's family had initially asked the bride-to-be's family if they could set the dowry at RM7,500.

"However, the woman's family shot down the request, and insisted on RM15,000," the source said.

The man's family finally agreed to the amount, with RM10,000 to be paid in instalments before the wedding and the balance after, the source added.

However, even though the RM10,000 had already been paid, it was claimed that the woman's family refused to proceed with the ceremony unless they received the remaining RM5,000, said the source.

The man is said to be working as a security guard and drawing a monthly salary of RM1,500.

The couple had been dating for about three years before they decided to get married.