Joyous Pandemonium Erupts : Bhutto Weds Man Chosen for Her by Her Mother

Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto wed the son of a wealthy landlord in an arranged marriage today but a public reception erupted in pandemonium and a woman was killed by a stray bullet.

Hospital sources said the 25-year-old woman was watching the wedding celebration in a public park from the balcony of a nearby building when she was killed by a stray bullet as shots rang out in traditional celebration of the biggest political wedding in Pakistan’s 40-year history.

Another eight people attending the public reception suffered minor injuries in the crush of thousands of jubilant Pakistanis trying to swarm the park grounds, they said.

Bhutto’s marriage to polo-playing businessman Asif Ali Zardari was arranged by the family of the groom and Bhutto’s mother.

The 34-year-old leader of the Pakistan People’s Party pledged that marriage will not change her.

“Benazir Bhutto doesn’t cease to exist the moment she marries; she’s the same person,” she told Western reporters before the Muslim ceremony. “I am keeping my own name.”

Bhutto said she had deliberately departed from tradition to keep the wedding simple.

She had insisted that the groom’s family provide her with only two dresses, instead of up to 51 as is common in Pakistan. She cut down on her jewelry and insisted that her family pay no dowry, another almost universal custom.

Bhutto, who has led the People’s Party for eight years, pledged that her marriage will not lessen her campaign to oust President Zia ul-Haq.