Youth kidnapped, drugged, forced into marriage in Bihar

PATNA: A 22-year-old youth was kidnapped, drugged and forced into marriage in Bihar’s Samastipur. This reminds of Bihar’s history of Pakadwa Vivah (forced marriage) or groom kidnapping, where bachelors are forced to marry with a gun pointed at their heads. Nitish Kumar of Samastipur is the victim. He was drugged and kidnapped and forced into marriage. The youth’s family have lodged a complaint.

Nitish alleged that his friends offered him a drink laced with sedatives on February 7. His friends then took him to a house in a nearby village and forced him to marry a girl there. The footage of this is being circulated on social media.

Visuals show Nitish appearing disoriented and struggling to lift his hands during the wedding ceremony. He was locked in a room for two days. When he regained consciousness and tried to escape, the girl's family showed him videos of the wedding, which he forwarded to his parents.

The youth was released from custody after a police search was conducted on the missing complaint of his parents. Nitish has also alleged that he was physically abused while in custody. Although the police have registered a case in the incident, no one has been arrested yet. Protests galore on social media against the Pakadwa Vivah, which is still prevalent in rural areas of Bihar.