Man welcomes back daughter with 'baraat' after she files for divorce

In Jharkhand, a man turned the concept of 'baraat' on its head, when he organised the celebratory procession to welcome his daughter back from her in-laws after she alleged she was being tortured there and filed for divorce.

A 'baraat' is a procession for the groom when he goes to the bride's house to get married. Divorce, still a taboo in India, is often not supported by many, but Prem Chand with firecrackers and fanfare came out in support of his daughter.

On his Facebook post, he wrote "When your daughter's marriage is done with great pomp and show and if the spouse and family turn out to be wrong or does wrong things then you should bring your daughter back to your home with respect and honour because daughters are very precious."

The video shows the woman's family members cheerily joining her and bursting crackers. They are seen clapping hands and one woman appears to hug the returnee as the remaining members of the family move through the streets as a 'baraat' procession would.

Mr Gupta, on October 15, had reached the in-laws' place to bring back his daughter. Last April, the Jharkhand man had married off his daughter, Sakshi Gupta to Sachin Kumar, an assistant engineer working in Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited, The Hindu reported.

However, a few days into the marriage, Sakshi found out her husband had already married twice. She also alleged harassment by both her husband and the in-laws, sometimes, throwing her out of the house, the publication reported.

When returning from Rajasthan, Gupta told the publication that the in-laws and Kumar had agreed to give alimony in the divorce case, where they would essentially return the Rs 17 lakh that Gupta had given to the in-laws at the time of his daughter's wedding.

Asked about Sakshi's future, he told The Hindu "As of now we have not decided anything but if my daughter wants to start a new life with a new life partner then we will be more than happy. They have now mutually agreed for divorce and the family court of Ranchi will pronounce the decision soon."

Sakshi expressed happiness at having supportive parents, while many on social media have lauded the father's actions.