Patna: An 18-year-old youth, who had been missing after allegedly being kidnapped and forcefully married to a girl in Patna district, escaped from the clutches of his kidnappers and reached the Fatuha police station late on Wednesday night. He narrated his ordeal to the police and was later handed over to Gaurichak police station, where a kidnapping case had been lodged by the victim Shubham Kumar‘s family on December 6.
Gaurichak police station in-charge Vivek Kumar said, “The youth’s statement under Section 164 will be recorded in court on Friday and further investigation will be conducted in this case.”
The victim accused a resident of Saphua village under Gaurichak police station of allegedly kidnapping him and forcing him to marry his sister-in-law. Shubham had gone to attend the wedding of his cousin in Baktiyarpur’s Champapur village on December 5. After the ‘pakadua vivah’ (forced marriage), the family held Shubham captive at an unknown location, but somehow, he managed to escape and reached Fatuha police on Wednesday night.
The investigating officer, Dharmendra Kumar Giri, said, “The youth is in police custody and his statement will be recorded on Friday. The police are also examining the CCTV footage of the areas mentioned by the victim in his statement to corroborate the evidence of his kidnapping.”
“Shubham’s father, Umesh Yadav, alleged that the accused took a loan of Rs 12 lakh from him on December 31, 2022, to purchase land. The victim’s family claimed that when the accused could not repay the loan, he arranged for Shubham to marry his sister-in-law and sent the girl to their house on December 6, while holding Shubham captive. The police are investigating the entire matter and appropriate action will be taken against those found guilty,” Giri added on Thursday.