‘I Left Willingly’: Missing Bride from Darbhanga Resurfaces, Rejects Abduction Allegations

Darbhanga/Patna: In a gripping turn of events that has captivated Bihar’s Darbhanga district, a bride allegedly abducted at gunpoint just hours after her wedding has surfaced in a viral video – not as a victim, but as a woman asserting her freedom.

Mala Kumari, who was reported kidnapped during her vidai (farewell) on April 26, appeared in a four-minute video alongside her lover Manish Kumar, declaring they had married of their own free will. The video, released on April 29, includes a court marriage certificate dated April 28. The couple, seated together, appeared composed and defiant.

“Mummy, Papa… I was not kidnapped. I came with Manish on my own,” Mala says, her voice steady. “We are married now and we are happy. Stop harassing his family by filing false cases. If anything happens to them, my parents and brother will be responsible.”

Manish, identifying himself as a resident of Gangapur village in Madhubani, states that they married at the Jhanjharpur court. Mala recounts how her family forced her to marry another man, Sanjay Ram, against her will. “I told my family I loved Manish. But they married me off to Sanjay on April 25. When I was being taken to his house the next day, I called Manish. He came, I got down from Sanjay’s car and left with him.”

She insists there was no coercion or weapon involved in her departure. However, back in her village, chaos unfolded as her family filed a kidnapping FIR three days after the incident, accusing Manish and alleging that armed men forcibly took Mala away.

Sanjay Ram, the man Mala left behind, is livid. “I will not accept her back. My dignity has been destroyed. I will marry again,” he told local media, demanding compensation from the administration for the wedding expenses.

The incident has divided public opinion and sparked debates around consent, caste, love marriages, and honour. While villagers suggest Mala and Manish had been in a relationship for two years, her family denies this and continues to maintain that she was abducted.

The police, meanwhile, are yet to officially close the case, even as both Mala and Manish remain untraceable.