A boyfriend accused of hijacking his childhood sweetheart’s graduation ceremony by proposing to her on stage has hit back saying his new fiancee is ‘more than happy’.
Edgaras Averbuchas, 27, got down on one knee and asked Agne Banuskeviciute, 25, to marry him in the middle of the ceremony at the University of Essex in Colchester last week.
But he faced a backlash on social media with critics claiming he was ‘stealing her thunder’ and insisting she should be allowed to ‘have her moment’.
But Edgaras has rubbished their claims and says they can ‘complain all they want’, but his bride-to-be is perfectly happy.
Edgaras Averbuchas, 27, got down on one knee and asked Agne Banuskeviciute, 25, to marry him in the middle of her graduation ceremony at the University of Essex in Colchester
He has hit back at critics accusing him of stealing her thunder saying: ‘They can complain to their cats! My fiancee is more than happy’
The proposal, which has been described as romantic by some but ‘controlling’ by others, was captured on video by the university.
But they were slammed for sharing it by commenters who claimed such behaviour ‘should not be encouraged’ and it was later deleted.
Meanwhile the couple, who are originally from Lithuania, are currently celebrating their engagement on holiday.
Agne had just finished studying a Masters degree in English Language and Applied Linguistics on the Colchester campus, of the University of Essex.
She has also hit out at critics, saying she is baffled by the backlash: ‘That’s so strange that Edgaras was getting a lot of criticism from people.
‘Well, I think that this day became even more beautiful with this proposal.’
Aisha Ali-Khan, a core organiser of the Women’s March in London, slammed the video in a blog.
She wrote: ‘Public declarations of love smack of egotism and a need for the party making the fuss to be acknowledged and given a round of applause (exactly what happened here). This does not bode well for the relationship.
‘When someone craves such public attention and adulation all the time, there can only be space for one person and their ego in that relationship,’ she went on.
The couple are pictured together outside Buckingham Palace on one of Edgaras’s trips to visit his now-fiancee in the UK
Agne said she was delighted with the proposal and added she didn’t understand the criticism that ensued either. The couple are pictured together
Agne received her diploma and shook the Dean’s hand before Edgaras came up on stage and popped the question
The young woman, diploma in hand, was visibly shocked as her childhood sweetheart started speaking
Edgaras then got down on one knee and proposed, and Agne happily accepted to the sound of claps and cheers from members of the university’s faculty
Writer Rebecca Reid criticised the public nature of the proposal in an article for Grazia magazine.
She wrote: ‘The chances are that this couple are very much in love, and that she was delighted with the proposal.
‘But what was she supposed to do if she’d wanted to say no? Break his heart in front of an entire auditorium full of strangers?
‘Hijacking a big moment with something sweet or well intentioned doesn’t make it okay.
The newly-engaged couple are pictured on a visit to London
‘Just because something is sweet or well intended doesn’t mean that it is appropriate.’
Meanwhile Dr Jana Bacevic, of the University of Cambridge, tweeted: ‘Imagine being a man and feeling so threatened by a woman’s intellectual success that you *have* to force her to frame her identity/agency in relation to *you* on the very day she is being celebrated for her intellect.
‘Oh wait, that’s, like, 99.9 percent men.’
Sara Jayne Atkinson fumed: ‘Hijacked her graduation. Years of hard work and now we’re all supposed to be pleased for her.
Online, the video divided opinions, with many noting that the young man should have picked another time to make his proposal
‘Not because of her achievement, but because she got her man. Bad form.’
The couple have been dating for nine years after meeting as teenagers in secondary school.
Agne said of the big moment: ‘I remember myself standing on the stage. I was a little bit nervous, but extremely happy.
‘Then, all of a sudden I saw Edgaras coming, but everything happened so quickly that it took me some time to understand what actually happened.
‘He knelt on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was in so much shock and of course I said yes.
‘Everyone cheered and it was an amazing proposal which truly took me by surprise. Well, I knew something was up but didn’t have a clue.’
Agne beamed as Edgaras put the engagement ring on her finger in front of the assembly (pictured)
What a day: Agne got her degree and a surprise engagement on the same day and said it made the moment more special