The family tried to convince the bride to marry but she sternly refused

A bride in Bihar's Chhapra called off her wedding as the groom allegedly turned up drunk at the mandap or wedding dais. Rinki Kumari, in her twenties, told her family to ask the groom, Bablu Kumar, to leave as he came staggering down the path on Saturday.

"The groom was so drunk that he was unaware of his surroundings. He misbehaved on the stage, so my daughter refused to marry him." Tribhuvan Shah, the bride's father told news agency ANI.

Relatives allege that Bablu Kumar was unable to stand or perform any ritual at the wedding held at Dumri Chapiya village and that's when the furious bride the walked off. Both the families apparently tried to persuade Rinki Kumari to return to the wedding but she firmly refused.

The villagers apparently did not let the groom's family leave until they had returned the dowry they had extracted from Rinki's parents.

In Bihar, where liquor was banned in 2016, incidents like this are not uncommon. In January, a bride in Nalanda district turned away the groom and his friends after they arrived drunk to the wedding venue. The villagers informed the local police and the groom was arrested and charged for violating prohibition.

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, claims that prohibition has been successful in the state but social activists allege that alcohol is sold illegally and young men resort to bootlegging to make a quick buck.

The RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, who was Nitish Kumar's deputy when the prohibition law was enacted in April 2016 but is now leader of opposition, has strongly criticised the law and called it a "farce".

(With inputs from ANNI & PTI)