ROURKELA: In an unusual incident, a tribal youth got his wife remarried to her lover on learning about their relationship just four days after his marriage. It took place in Kishanpada hamlet of Bargaon bargain police limits in Sundargarh district on Friday.
According to sources, Basudev Toppo (24) got married to a 21-year-old girl of Jharsududa district on March 4. On Thursday, the newly married woman’s lover Sushil Pradhan (21) accompanied by his two friends reached her in-law’s house and identified himself as the woman’s distant brother. The other two youths invited Toppo to go for a drink while Pradhan stayed back. On return, Toppo found his wife and Pradhan in compromising position.
Enraged over the incident, the villagers tied Pradhan and beat him up till the woman admitted their relationship. She claimed that despite her unwillingness, her family forcibly got her married to Toppo.
Later, the guardians of the woman and her lover were called. On Friday, under the initiative of Toppo, the woman and Pradhan got married. Though Bargaon police went to the village on being informed, the villagers insisted to settle the issue as per their tradition.
Pamra Sarpanch Gajendra and Bargaon-B Zilla Parishad member Ashok Lakra confirmed the incident, but Rajgangpur Sub-Divisional Police Officer Bijaya Nanda denied knowledge of it.
Minor girl pays for elder sister’s brave act
In another shocking incident, when a minor tribal girl (16) fled to avoid marrying a man of double her age, the would-be groom Raju Munda (32) of West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand forcibly took away her younger sister (14) with him on Saturday. The incident took place at Mundajor village under Lathikata police limits.
Child Welfare Committee (CWC) member JR Behera said the ChildLine has been informed to rescue the girl and the girl’s father advised to bring her back. He said as per tribal marriage tradition, the girl’s father had taken `8,000 from the man for marrying his elder daughter. When his elder daughter did not agree to marry, he gave his consent to get his younger daughter married to the man. Interestingly, in the last week, two other unusual matrimonial incidents have taken place in Rourkela city.
On March 5, a drunken groom, Shankar Panda (24), was handed over to Tangarpali police for assaulting his would be in-laws. Later, he was found to be already married and sent to jail. Three days ago, one Mananjay Choubey claimed before RN Pali police that when he was out of Rourkela, his wife, a private bank employee, got remarried elsewhere.