Bihar Goons play match-makers

Patna: Well-employed eligible bachelors are virtually running for cover in Bihar. For, they fear that goons hired by families of prospective brides may abduct them for a forced marriage, also known as Pakadwa Vivah, a practice that has been thriving in the state for several decades.

Such is the demand for eligible bridegrooms, especially in among the upper castes, that marriage by abduction has become a well-oiled industry with gangs of criminals working fulltime to conduct extensive research on bachelors suitable for Pakadwa Vivah. Surprisingly, most of such marriages survive and the bridegrooms very rarely opt for annulment of the forced nuptials.

The gangs work like marriage bureaux and charge about 10 per cent of the dowry that a bridegroom commands in the marriage bazaar.

For instance, to abduct an upper caste doctor, the gangs charge up to Rs 5 lakh and for an engineer, the going rate is around Rs 2 lakh. The gangs also undertake post-marriage follow-up which involves threatening the bridegrooms’ family not to harass the bride or attempt to dissolve the forced marriage.

A forced marriage involves committing a criminal act of abduction but that does not deter families of brides.  A bride’s family which would have normally been forced to pay a dowry of Rs 50 lakh to a doctor son-in-law manages to pay about Rs 5 lakh to a Pakadwa Vivah gang and ends up saving a lot of money by taking recourse to marriage-by-abduction.

While doctors, civil servants, engineers and chartered accountants are always in demand, MBAs have few takers. “The insecurity in a private job has made MBAs unattractive for a forced marriage,”said a source aware of the operation of these gangs.

The recent case of a 29-year-old engineer Vinod Kumar, who was allegedly abducted and forced to marry a girl at gunpoint in Patna on December 3, 2017, has brought this social practice into focus once again.

For the gangs specialising in marriage-by-abduction it is a simple three-step operation. Zero-in on a prospective groom, kidnap him and make him tie the nuptial knot at gunpoint.

In the early 1980s, these forced marriages were meant to teach a lesson to “dowry greedy” bridegrooms.  “Social groups” abducted grooms who demanded heavy dowries and forced them to marry the same girl whose family could not arrange the hefty dowry. However, the tradition later turned into a “bridegroom-on-demand” industry.

Social observers believe the pressure of increasing dowry demands and inability of the bride’s parents to fulfil them has resulted in middle-class families seeking the services of criminal gangs that kidnap youth and force them into marriages.

Even the local village committees extend support to the bride’s family, leaving little choice for the groom’s family to oppose the marriage. A large number of such cases often go unreported as the family fears criminal gangs hired by bride’s parents.

Sources said that bride’s parents and their hired goons target youths on the basis of their education, profession and caste.  “They do a lot of research about the background of boys such as their profession, salary package and the caste factor,” Krishna Kumar, a Begusarai resident, said.

According to Bihar police statistics, 3,075 youths were abducted and married in 2016. The figure was 3,001 in 2015 and 2,533 in 2014. Until March 2017, around 830 such cases were reported.

Sources claim that forced marriages are commonplace in cities like Patna, Vaishali, Begusarai, Samastipur, and Lakhisarai.

Social scientist Dr S. Narayan said, “Dowry demands are the main reason behind abduction of grooms. Since villagers don’t oppose such a practice, the bride’s families are further emboldened. They approach criminals and ask them to find a match for their daughters.”

“Some of the families in rural areas rely on these criminal gangs as many educated and well-employed youths avoid marrying girls who belong to villages that lack basic infrastructure such as roads and electricity,” he said.

 Vinod Kumar’s case, his family accused the district administration of inaction and alleged that the local police helped those who had kidnapped him.

The incident came to light after a video of the “forced” marriage went viral on the social media. The clips of the video, which are being probed by Patna police, show the engineer pleading to be released, while women from the bride’s family perform the marriage rites.

The video showed the engineer being tied up and forced to marry the girl and he was also threatened when he refused to cooperate.

Sources claim that the victim’s brother recently approached the police and demanded protection from Mokama-based goon Surendra Yadav, who is said to have played a key role in the marriage.  

The practice of forced marriages first came to light in the 1980s when only upper caste employed youths were kidnapped, but now the families belonging to other castes are also approaching local gangs for the marriage of their daughters.

Sources said abductors use similar tactics as was seen in the recent case of a young engineer who was forced to marry on gunpoint in Patna. Prospective bridegrooms are kidnapped, held captive and often beaten up until they agree to cooperate and marry the girl. The goons also ensure that the bride after the marriage is treated well by the boy’s family members.

A social scientist pointed out that cases of forced marriages have grown due to weak governance. He said that the state government needs to strengthen the mechanism of social control in order to stop such cases.