A teacher from the Vaishali district in Bihar was abducted and forcibly married on Wednesday (29th November). The teacher was abducted from the school. After the complaint of kidnapping and the ruckus of angry people, the police took the couple into custody. The photos of the forced wedding have also gone viral.
Gautam Kumar, who recently passed the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination and became a teacher, was kidnapped from the school on Wednesday (29th November). Gautam Kumar teaches at the Utkramit Middle School in Repura, Patepur. He is a resident of the Mahya Malpur village under the Patepur police station area.
When the news of the teacher’s abduction came to light, angry people blocked the Tajpur-Hajipur state highway. Shortly after this Patepur police recovered teacher Gautam Kumar from the Narayanpur Dedhpura village under the Mahanar police station area. Gautam Kumar was caught with his bride. In this case, the police have also detained one person.
Gautam Kumar was teaching his students on Wednesday afternoon. At that time, Rajesh Rai, Dablu Rai, Bhushan Rai, Vinod Rai, and Pramod Rai of the same village reached the school. They threatened him with a pistol and forcibly took him away in a Bolero car. The school’s in-charge principal and Gautam Kumar’s grandfather lodged an FIR of kidnapping at Patepur police station. Angry over the abduction of the teacher, his family members and villagers stopped traffic on State Highway – 49.
The police found the kidnapped teacher along with his wife within a few hours. According to reports, teacher Gautam was forcibly married to Rajesh Rai’s daughter. The marriage was done at the girl’s uncle’s in-laws’ house in Narayanpur Dedhpura. Now, in this case, the families of the boy and the girl are also reportedly coming on the terms of mutual agreement.
Patepur police station in-charge Hasan Sardar said that the statement of the aggrieved teacher will be recorded in the court under CrPC 164. Further action will be taken after the statement given in the court.
Recently, the Patna High Court, while hearing a case related to forced marriages, stated that forcibly applying sindoor to a woman would not be considered a valid Hindu marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act. The court emphasised that a Hindu marriage is not valid unless it is consensual. It highlighted the essential ritual of ‘Saptapadi’ (taking seven rounds around the sacred fire), emphasising its necessity for the marriage to be recognised as valid.
