Bihar man ostracised for refusing to give wife to rich man

Patna: A poor landless labourer and his family have been ostracised in a Bihar village for his refusal to hand over his wife to a rich man.

Rudo Mandal, 40, and his wife Sushila Devi, 30, have been forced to go hungry along with their six children after they were threatened with dire consequences by the henchmen of the person who demanded the worker to give him his wife.

"First they demanded that I hand over my wife and when I refused they ostracised us and threatened to eliminate us," Mandal, a labourer in Haripur village under Daghmdaha block in Purnea district, about 300 km from here, said Monday.

Mandal along with his wife and children met the Purnea district superintendent of police, seeking security for the family. "We have informed the SP about the threat to our lives and sought security," he said.

Sushila Devi said they have been running from pillar to post for justice, but to no avail. "We were socially ostracised for trying to protect our honour," she said.

Mandal was denied work in the village under the orders of the rich man. The villager said he and his family had met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at his janata darbar or public meet a few weeks ago. "We were promised justice, but nothing has happened so far," he said.

The family was planning to migrate from Bihar if they failed to get justice. Mandal's case is not an isolated one. There are several such instances in rural Bihar where powerful landed people still behave like feudal lords of the past.