In dry Bihar, a drunk bridegroom forgot to attend his wedding — when he sobered up the day after, he rushed to the bride’s home but she refused to marry him. Not only that, his family and friends were taken hostage by the bride’s relatives, who demanded that the groom’s party refund the expenses incurred on wedding arrangements.
The bridegroom, Santosh Kumar Mandal of Atichak village in Bhagalpur district, was to marry Neha of Mirzapur village in the same district on March 13. The groom got drunk heavily with his friends on the wedding day and forgot to take out his band, baja and baraat (marriage procession with musical band) to the bride’s place. The bride, her family and friends kept waiting for the baaratis (marriage procession) for long.
Next day early morning, when the groom became conscious, he hurriedly took the marriage procession to the bride’s house. However, the bride refused to marry him saying she could not “spend her rest of life with a drunkard and a liar who doesn’t understand his responsibilities”. “I cannot marry a drunkard who shamelessly consumed liquor even before his marriage,” she told the local mediapersons. Her stand was appreciated by her family members, relatives and the villagers.
The issue did not end there. The bride’s family then held the groom and his family members hostage demanding that they return the money spent on the marriage arrangements. On a tip-off, the local police reached the venue and brought the situation under control.
The groom later returned to his village. “He [the groom] brought serious insult on us because of his liquor consumption,” said one of his relatives.
In a similar incident in July 2016, Preeti Lata, a schoolteacher in Bhagalpur district , had refused to marry the groom when she found that he was drunk as she was about to garland him.
Thriving illicit liquor trade
In April 2016, the Bihar government had banned consumption, storage, sale and trade of liquor in the State, under the strict provisions of the State Prohibition and Excise Act. Since then, the trade in illegal and illicit liquor has been giving tough challenge to the police and excise department officials. A government figure says 1.86 crore litres of liquor, both IMFL and countrymade, has been seized in the State since April 2016. A total of 3,61,077 cases were registered and 5,17,419 arrests been made until December 2022 for violation of liquor laws.
Liquor smuggling from neighbouring States such as Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and even from Haryana and other places like neighbouring country Nepal, is known to be the most profiting trade in Bihar today. Home delivery of liquor in dry Bihar is said to be rampant and haunts the police more. On Friday, the Congress – a key ally in the ruling coalition – demanded review of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, in the ongoing budget session of the Assembly but, the principal ruling alliance partner, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, said prohibition has been successful in the State. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has repeatedly said that he would not call off the liquor law, come what may. “97% women and 93% men are in favour of the liquor ban in the State,” Mr. Kumar has said.
