Bihar teacher kidnapped, compelled into gunpoint marriage with abductor's daughter

The article details the harrowing experience of Gautam Kumar, a Bihar teacher forcibly married at gunpoint in a 'Pakadwa Vivah' incident, shedding light on a disturbing trend, with similar cases and legal implications.

Gautam Kumar, who had recently successfully passed the Bihar Public Service Commission exam, experienced a dramatic turn of events when, on a Wednesday, a group of three to four individuals arrived at his school and forcefully abducted him. In a span of 24 hours, he found himself compelled to enter into matrimony under duress, marrying the daughter of one of his kidnappers at gunpoint. This incident adds another chapter to Bihar's history of 'Pakadwa Vivah' or groom kidnapping, highlighting the alarming trend where unmarried men are coerced into marriage with the threat of a firearm.

As per police reports, the abduction occurred in Bihar's Vaishali district, specifically in the vicinity of Utkramit Madhya Vidyalaya in Repura, Patepur, where Gautam Kumar had recently taken up a teaching position. Subsequent to the incident, Kumar's family staged a protest by blocking a road on Wednesday night, prompting the police to launch a search operation to locate the missing teacher.

The responsibility for the abduction has been placed on a man named Rajesh Rai by Kumar's family. They allege that Mr. Rai's family forcibly took Gautam Kumar away and compelled him into marrying their daughter, Chandni.

Despite Kumar's refusal to accept the marriage proposal, he faced physical violence as well. The police revealed that Kumar cited a recent judgment from the Patna High Court, which nullified a forced marriage that took place a decade ago between an Armyman from Nawada and a woman from Lakhisarai.

The police have registered an FIR in connection with the case, and an investigation is underway to pursue appropriate actions against the individuals responsible for the kidnapping and forced marriage.

'Pakadwa Vivah' is a recurring phenomenon in Bihar. In a notable incident last year, a veterinarian attending to a sick animal was abducted by three individuals and compelled into marriage in Begusarai. Several years ago, another incident gained national attention when a 29-year-old engineer named Vinod Kumar, working as a junior manager at Bokaro Steel Plant, was assaulted and coerced into marrying a woman in the Pandarak area of Patna.