india

Updated: Oct 17, 2017 15:58 IST

A former school principal in Bihar’s Bhojpur district has returned Rs 4 lakh given as dowry by the family of his son’s bride for their December 3 wedding and credited chief minister Nitish Kumar for his unselfish action.

Hrindra Singh, who retired from Adarsh middle school at Kaura village under Jagdishpur block in August, said he was inspired by Kumar’s clarion call on October 4 at Ara, headquarters of Bhojpur district, to shun the practice of dowry and child marriage.

Singh returned the cash he got from the bride’s family for the “marriage preparations” of his younger son, Prem Ranjan Singh (25), who runs an electrical shop.

The bride’s elder brother, Rohit Singh, said: “We were initially perplexed. I thought the groom’s family was calling off the marriage when they came to return us the money. I am proud that my sister is being married into a family with such high moral values.”

Hrindra Singh’s elder son, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, said the bride’s family had promptly given them the ‘facilitation money’ after finalisation of marriage in February. “However, inspired by CM Kumar’s speech in Ara on October 4, we returned the money on October 10.”

Singh, who resides at Ekta Nagar locality of Ara, the district headquarters of Bhojpur, 60 km west of Patna, has earned much respect from people in the area.

Bhojpur superintendent of police Awakash Kumar said no charges would be pressed as no complaint was received, but expressed happiness with growing social awareness.

Under penal code, giving and taking dowry is a punishable offence with a jail term up to seven years.

As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Bihar registered 1,154 dowry deaths in 2015, second only to Uttar Pradesh.

In terms of crime against women, Bihar is 11th among Indian states and Union territories. Altogether 1,867 cases have been so far registered under the Dowry Prevention Act.