Hic! Brides in Bihar dump drunk grooms

AN increasing number of girls in Bihar are turning away drunk bridegrooms on their wedding day. Several incidents — of the brides refusing to marry the men chosen by their families — have been reported from the rural areas of the state recently. A bride walked out of her marriage venue earlier this week when she saw her groom completely sozzled. The incident took place at Harishankarpur Baghauni village in North Bihar’s Samastipur district. The girl, daughter of a man named Lalo Das, was to get married to a youth from Pusa Chandauli village.Such cases are more seen in rural areas.According to witnesses, the bridegroom started throwing tantrums when the rituals were about to start and looked heavily drunk. He also started abusing the girl’s family over nonavailability of a generator set during the ceremony. Seeing this, the bride refused to take part in the ceremony and walked out of the venue. Her family members then took the bridegroom hostage and tied him to a pillar. He was let off on the condition that his parents would return the dowry they had received earlier. The next day, both the parties met to resolve the issue. However, this was not the first time a groom was being rejected for getting drunk on his wedding day. Earlier this month, 20- year- old Savita Kumari, daughter of Ram Avatar Sah from Manjhaul panchayat in Begusarai district, “ shocked” everybody when she refused to marry Amardip Sah from Navkothi village. Savita took this decision after she saw Sah and his relatives misbehaving with her family under the influence of liquor. Following the commotion, her family also held the groom and other members of the marriage party hostage for a few hours. They were released from captivity only after they reportedly paid the amount spent on the wedding preparations. Last year, residents of a village in Arwal district got a bride married to the ‘ original’ groom’s younger brother after the former arrived in an inebriated condition. Amid high drama, the younger brother agreed to take his drunk brother’s place. The sozzled man later apologised for his behaviour and cried saying he’ll never get a bride again. But booze is not the only reason brides are turning away their husbands- to- be. Pushpa Kumari, a spirited girl in her twenties, had the courage to say no when she found out that her groom was mentally challenged. A resident of Hathi Tola near Patna, she refused to marry Rannjit Kumar when she noticed his unusual behaviour. The incident took place in April this year. “ I complained to my father who found out that the groom was not stable. I saved myself and my family from more trouble,” she said after the ceremony was cancelled. Another bridegroom returned empty- handed in Gopalganj a couple of months ago. A 19- year- old college student put her foot down because the groom was not only unemployed but also ‘ ugly’. Another girl, Manju Lata from Jagtauli village of Gopalganj district, rejected her groom because he was an illiterate man who could not answer some of her questions. Nisha Kumari from Mirhata village in the neighbouring Siwan district also slammed the door on her groom who turned out to be hearingimpaired.