Indian court annuls marriage of soldier forced to wed at gunpoint

Bihar is plagued by a tradition of forced marriage where eligible bachelors are abducted

Patna High Court, in Bihar. Forced marriages are prevalent in parts of the eastern state. Getty Images

An Indian court has annulled the marriage of a soldier who 10 years ago was kidnapped and forced to marry a woman at gunpoint in Bihar state, where men are often abducted and forced to wed.

Ravi Kant, an Indian army soldier from Nawada district in the state, was praying at a temple when he was abducted by the members of the bride’s family in 2013 in a case of pakadua byah, or forced marriage.

The tradition is prevalent in several parts of the state where eligible bachelors are abducted and forced to marry women whose families cannot afford expensive dowries.

The practice of dowry is outlawed, but Indian weddings are still often marred by the enormous social pressure on the bride’s family to spend vast sums of money to fulfil demands of the groom’s family that range from cars and gold to cash.

Mr Kant was forced to enter the marriage but had fled the bride’s house without consummating the marriage and resumed his duties in Jammu and Kashmir.

He later approached a family court seeking an annulment of marriage, but his petition was dismissed in 2020.

He then appealed before the Patna High Court, which on November 10 set aside a three-year-old judgment of the family court and passed a decree in his favour.

"The petitioner has explained the situation and there is no undue delay," a two-judge bench said.

The court also noted that not all the Hindu rituals for a wedding were performed and the marriage was therefore invalid.