Bihar: 40% of kidnappings in 2017 for marriage, reveals police data

Officials did not explain in detail the definition of the “kidnapping for marriage” category, but said incidence of “marriages at gun-point”, once common in the state, had become negligible.

Additional Director General of Police Vinay Kumar told The Indian Express, “Most of these cases under ‘kidnapping for marriage’ category are about men and women fleeing homes for marriages. Some of these are forced marriages but there are negligible instances of marriages at gunpoint that happened in 1970s and 1980s. Some of these men and women also fled out of fear that their marriage won’t be accepted or out of fear of honour killing. It is more a social issue than one of policing. We try to do community policing, but it is up to parents and children to find a solution”. He said they had to specify reasons of kidnapping as per Supreme Court guidelines. “We lodge cases under IPC section 363 in which reasons of kidnapping are not known”.