‘Pakadua Vivah’: 17-year-old boy kidnapped & married to minor

PATNA: A 17-year-old who had passed his class XII exams this year and recently started college was allegedly abducted near his home in Patna's Barh and forced to marry a minor girl at gunpoint late Wednesday.

It was only after sacred mantras of the marriage were over that police could locate the teen from Athmalgola's Phulelpur village around midnight. All accused involved in the unlawful marriage are absconding, including one who had been jailed earlier for murder. According to police, preliminary investigations suggest the girl's parents passed away in her childhood and those looking after her got her married to rid themselves of their responsibility.

Barh SHO Manish Kumar cited a complaint from the victim's mother, Usha Devi, saying three-four suspects dragged her son into an SUV and took him away while he was out for a stroll around 6.30pm on Wednesday.

"Eyewitnesses informed the family members. Instead of alerting the police immediately, his family started searches on their own. When they failed to trace him, they informed the police around 10pm. The teen was rescued by us within hours. He told us that he was taken away by unknown people and driven to a house where he was wedded by force," Kumar said.

The teen's statement was recorded Thursday before a magistrate. An FIR was registered against three named accused and some unidentified people. SHO Kumar said one of the accused, Arun Yadav, was earlier convicted in murder cases. "He had also gone to jail. We are conducting raids but no arrests have been made yet," Kumar added.


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