Patna: In a dramatic fallout over an intercaste marriage, a family in Purnia allegedly performed the symbolic ‘funeral’ of their 18-year-old daughter after she eloped with her boyfriend and married him in a Delhi court.The family prepared an effigy carrying her photograph, took it out in a ‘funeral’ procession through the locality and performed symbolic ‘last rites’ after the woman told a local court that she had married the man of her choice. The incident took place at Chapay village in Town police station area of Purnia on Tuesday.The family had already fixed her marriage with a man from Bhagalpur who works as a govt teacher. According to her father, Manoj Kumar Goswami, the match had been finalised and wedding was scheduled for Nov. But before the family could go ahead with the marriage, the 18-year-old allegedly eloped with her boyfriend.“We had started preparing for the marriage. In the meantime, my daughter ran away and married of her own choice. Now what will I tell the other family? How will I face them?” Manoj said.The daughter, an undergraduate college student, allegedly eloped with her 24-year-old boyfriend on Sept 8 and married him in a Delhi court. Her father subsequently approached Maranga police in Purnia and filed a missing complaint, fearing that his daughter had been abducted.According to villagers, the two had been in a relationship for around three years. Their houses are reportedly only about 100 metres apart. They initially saw each other while the girl travelled to college and gradually began meeting and talking.Two days ago, police rescued the girl from Delhi and produced her before a local court, where her statement was recorded. When she spoke in favour of the man and said she had married him voluntarily, her father was deeply upset. He then decided to symbolically end his relationship with his daughter through a funeral ceremony.By Monday night, preparations for the unusual ceremony had begun.According to villagers, the family made an effigy of the girl and prepared a poster carrying her photograph. Villagers were invited the next morning to participate in the procession.The effigy was then carried out from the house on a bier in a ‘funeral’ procession through the village. People reportedly raised the Hindu funeral chant “Ram Naam Satya Hai” before Manoj performed the symbolic cremation.The family also said it intended to perform rituals associated with death, including ‘shraddha’ and ‘pind daan’ between the 10th and 13th days.Manoj said, “I educated my daughter, brought her up and she has left us with our heads bowed. May God ensure that no one gets a daughter like this. We are no longer in a position to show our faces to anyone.”The family has now said the girl is “dead” to them and that they will have no relationship with her.Villager Awadhesh Kumar said members of the community had previously attempted to resolve the dispute. Both sides were reportedly called to a meeting and asked to settle the matter socially.“We had held a meeting earlier and called both sides. We told them to come to a social-level solution. We asked them to live as they had earlier and separate the two, but that did not happen,” Awadhesh said.He added that the community wanted young girls to understand what could happen if they took such a step.
