Minor couple in soup after 9 years of marriage

As the story goes, two constables – Ram Naresh Goswami and Lal Bahadur Singh – were posted at Buxar central jail.

Though Goswami was a Brahmin and Lal Bahadur a Rajput, their friendship was the talk of the town, until Cupid struck their teenage children. Lal Bahadur’s son Randhir fell in love with Goswami’s daughter Kalpana (name changed to protect her identity). The relationship was opposed tooth and nail by the two conservative families on account of different castes. When the love-struck minor teenagers refused to be cowed down by their threats, both were mercilessly beaten up by their respective fathers.

When things became unbearable, Randhir and his lady-love, much like in a Bollywood movie, decided to elope and get married before either of them could become a victim of honour killing.

Kalpana was barely 13 years when she fled with Randhir to an unknown destination. Goswami lodged an FIR at the Buxar police station accusing Lal Bahadur and his son of kidnapping his minor daughter. The police, however, remained clueless.

Years passed by. In the meantime, both the constables Goswami and Lal Bahadur died. The minor love birds, who got married in 2002 and had two children, were leading a peaceful life in Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.

They would have remained untraced had the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) in Buxar AK Gupta not decided to re-open the nine-year-old case and get to the bottom of the matter.
The SDPO on Tuesday traced the couple, now major, and brought them to Buxar with their two children in tow. Both were arrested for elopement and marrying as minors.