Over 3,000 kidnappings a year occur in India.
A video is circulating on social media showing a 29-year-old engineer crying and being forced into a marriage ceremony in Bihar, India. The man was kidnapped and reportedly forced at gunpoint to be married.
Man Kidnapped For Forced Wedding[/tweetthis]
This practice is called Pakadua Vivah. It is a practice specific to Bihar. Bihar is known for being volatile with criminal organizations that assist families in kidnapping potential wedding partners for forced marriages. Forced marriages mostly occur for poor families because a dowry is still expected in India. Because of the stigma of divorce in India, almost none of the forced marriages are annulled.
Bihar Engineer Forced To Marry At Gunpoint, Kept Crying, Ordeal On Video https://t.co/NIctGh3OQg pic.twitter.com/vFr7OX88pP
— Ray (@droughtroute) January 5, 2018
The man is a junior manager at a steel plant. He has been able to escape and ran away since the video has surfaced. While some of the relatives of the bride have disagreed with the characterization of the ceremony, there seems to be enough evidence to prove that the groom was being forced and the threat of violence did exist.