Rahul Bedi in the Chicago Sun Times - Indians desperate for husbands try kidnapping:
It is a big mistake to venture out at night if you are young, male and unmarried in India's Bihar state.That must lead to a tense atmosphere at family reunions!
Subhash Kumar, a bank clerk in Patna, let his guard down and paid the price by being kidnapped.
Four days after being carried off by a gang of thugs, manacled to a bed, starved and severely beaten, Kumar found himself married to a girl he had never seen before.
His tears and offers to pay ransom led to beatings, at least until the nuptials were complete. To his horror, even the household's women joined in, wielding slippers and brooms whenever he begged to be freed.
During the marriage ceremony a rope was tied around Kumar's waist in case he disgraced the bride's family by trying to flee. But by then, the resistance had been beaten out of him.
In those dark hours, all he wanted was for the nightmare to end, even if it meant being married to a complete stranger. The next day a sullen Kumar took his wife home, vowing vengeance against his in-laws.
