Patna, June 04: A wedding dream turned into a nightmare for a young man in Bihar when the family members of a prospective bride threw acid on him after the marriage talks failed.
Anuj Kumar, 25, who works as a petty contractor for setting up mobile towers in north Bihar, was admitted to Apollo Burns Hospital in Patna on Wednesday and is reportedly fighting for his life. His face and upper portion of the body have been badly burnt.
The police said the acid attack took place at a guest house at Bairiya in Muzaffarpur district on Tuesday night. Anuj apparently had marriage discussions there with the family members of Neeta.
Anuj’s father Arvind Kumar Mahto, a resident of Khanpur Somandih village in the adjoining Samastipur district, said his son was called to Bairiya by some people on the pretext of work.
He was subsequently taken to a guest house where Neeta’s family was present.
He alleged they started putting pressure on Anuj to marry Neeta. When he refused, they threw acid on him and locked him in a room.
When Anuj’s family came to know about the attack, they informed the police, which raided the guest house and arrested four persons, including the girl’s father Sakaldeo Mahto.
Anuj was first admitted to the SK Memorial Medical College Hospital but was later shifted to the burns hospital.
Sources said negotiations for Neeta’s marriage with Anuj had been going on for nearly a year. Anuj’s family said Neeta’s father had approached them with the proposal last year and tried to force Anuj to marry her.
Neeta, on the other hand, told the police that Anuj had called her and her family to the guest house.
Her father said both Anuj and Neeta knew each other as they had worked together earlier.
—Agencies