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A Dalit youth, who had married an upper-caste girl against the wishes of her family, was stabbed, and his wife abducted by his in-laws in Motihari town in Bihar's east Champaran district nearly 10 days ago, is seeking justice from the hospital bed as he has been put under police detention.
"I was put in police detention and handcuffed in the hospital where I am under treatment after being stabbed 20 times by my in-laws, who also abducted my wife, in an old case filed by my father in law, which is baseless. It appears to me that police is more keen to torture me instead to recover my wife and arrest the named accused in my complaint," Krishna Prasad Ram, the 24-year-old victim said.
Ram told rediff.com over telephone from his hospital bed that the police is behaving as if he is the real criminal, but the fact is that at the time of his court marriage a year ago, he and his wife Khushboo Singh were adults, and India's constitution allows an adult to marry or choose his life partner.
Nine police personnel have been deputed for my security and surveillance round the clock, despite the fact that they handcuffed me during treatment at the Sadar Hospital," he said.
Ram was 23 and Khushboo was 21 when they got married. "Even if we were forced to to elope after her family opposed, it was not a crime as both of us were adults and consenting adults,"Ram said.
His marriage was registered at the Motihari court as per the law. Ram has been charged with elopement on the basis of his father-in-law Manoj Singh's complaint a year ago. Interestingly, handcuffing of Ram also enraged Anil Kumar, the sub-divisional judicial magistrate in Motihari,when he was produced at the court.
Kumar expressed his unhappiness over police action when he saw that Ram was in no position to appear. It was the judge who ordered the police to take back Ram to the hospital for proper treatment.
Motihari's Deputy Superintendent of police Vijay Kumar downplayed Ram's case by saying that he was not aware of such case. Ram alleged that the police had failed to make any breakthrough to recover his abducted wife and arrest any accused till date.
According to him, the police is yet to take cognisance of his complaint against his in laws for the abduction of his wife and the murderous attack on him. Ram was attacked by his wife's relatives, who abducted her and assaulted their six-month-old baby.
A police official from the Motihari town police station said, "We have no clue of her whereabouts. We have also not found any body. Locals here fear that that it may end up as another honour killing case," the official said.
Ram along with his wife Khushboo and their child arrived at the Motihari railway station by the Jan Nayar Express from New Delhi on July 18 and spent the night at the platform. The same night was stabbed and his wife was abducted, the police said.
A first information report had been lodged at the police station against Khusboo's uncle Manoj Singh and father Ranvijay. Police officials said that they had raided the house of accused, but they could not be found.
Ram and his wife had come to Motihari to appear in the court in connection with a kidnapping case. The police say that Ram had married Khushboo in a local court after they were opposed by her family in Gaunahi village a year ago. Ram also hails from the same village.