A young teacher had been kidnapped at gunpoint while working in a school and then forced to marry the beautiful daughter of one of the kidnappers.
The 23-year-old Gautam Kumar had just passed the Bihar Public Service Commission exam and had started working as a teacher 12 days earlier when an armed group of five came to the school in Vaishali district in the Indian state of Bihar on 29th November.
The group kidnapped him at gunpoint and took him away in their vehicle.
One of the suspects, named as Rajesh Rai, reportedly organized the kidnapping in order to force Gautam to marry his daughter.
Although Gautam resisted the marriage, he agreed to marry the woman, named as Chandni Kumari, after being subjected to “physical violence”, according to local media.
After Gautam’s family protested, the police raided Rai’s house and rescued the man on 30th November.
When police arrived, the kidnappers had already fled.
They have been named as Rajesh Rai, Bhushan Rai, Binod Rai, Dabloo Rai, and Pramod Rai.
Gautam reportedly told the court he is afraid of the bride’s family as they might seek revenge.
Local media report that in Bihar it is not uncommon for families who want to marry their daughters to men with stable jobs, to just kidnap them and force them to marry.
Patna High Court had ruled against forced marriage, locally called “pakadwa vivah”, declaring it “null and void” in November.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
