Bihar: Man Kidnapped from School, Forcefully Married at Gunpoint, Rescued

A government school teacher from Bihar’s Vaishali was allegedly kidnapped from his school by four men on Wednesday and was later married off to one of the abductor’s daughters.

The victim identified as Gautam Kumar was newly appointed as a teacher at Utkramit Madhya Vidyalaya in Patepur’s Repura in Bihar, reported NDTV.

The incident comes barely a week after the Patna High Court declared ‘Pakarua Vivah’ (forced marriage) as null and void.

After the incident, the grandfather of the victim filed a complaint with Patepur police station accusing five people –Rajesh Rai, Bhushan Rai, Binod Rai, Dabloo Rai, and Pramod Rai, all residents of Repura village– of committing the crime, reported New Indian Express.

According to the report, the principal of the school where Kumar works also complained of unidentified persons abducting the teacher.

Following the daylight kidnapping, the family members of Kumar along with some locals sat in protest by blocking the Mahua-Tajpur road on Wednesday night, before the police started a search operation.

The next day, police raided Rajesh Rai’s house and rescued the 23-year-old man who informed them that he was tortured and then forcibly married off to Chandani Kumari at gunpoint.

The parents of the victim said to the police that Kumari is the daughter of Rai, who runs a brick kiln near Patepur block headquarters.

The police has registered an FIR against the kidnappers and initiated an investigation.

Patepur station house officer (SHO) was quoted as saying by the New Indian Express that the teacher had been saved by them. “He will be produced in the court to get his statement recorded under Section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code,” he added.

A similar incident happened last year where a veterinarian was called in to check on a sick animal, but was kidnapped by three people. She was then forcibly married in Begusarai.