Faced with two choices — going to jail for rape and getting married — Shahnawaz Gul, 27, probably did not have to think very hard about which option to pick. He married his long-time fiancée Gul Bano, also 27, here at the Kowali police station, under Potka block of East Singhbhum, on Tuesday.
The matter reached the police as Shahnawaz refused to marry Gul Bano even after she got pregnant. “The couple was in a relationship for the past two years. But after Gul got pregnant and shared this news with him and insisted on marriage, Shahnawaz refused to marry her. Gul’s family came to us with their complaint. We then summoned both the families and convinced them of the legal implications of this, such as jail and other penal provisions. Both the parties then agreed to the marriage. We got the ceremony performed here right away, as both were adults,” said Diwakar Dubey, Kowali PS officer-in-charge .
Earlier, Gul’s parents had gone to Shahnawaz’s house and met his parents with marriage proposal, but they refused. After this, Gul’s parents went to the police, and the force got into action mode.
The counselling by the police followed the wedding ceremony. Family members of the bride and the groom, along with friends, gathered in celebration under a tent set up inside the Kowali PS while Maulvi Md Bashir recited nikahnama to solemnise the marriage of Gul and Shahnawaz.
{{/usCountry}}The counselling by the police followed the wedding ceremony. Family members of the bride and the groom, along with friends, gathered in celebration under a tent set up inside the Kowali PS while Maulvi Md Bashir recited nikahnama to solemnise the marriage of Gul and Shahnawaz.
{{/usCountry}}Both were born in 1991, as per documents with the police.
The wedding was performed in consultation with Haldipokhar Purbu Panchayat Mukhiya Sayyad Jabiullah; Halipokhar Paschimi Panchyat Mukhiya Sunil Munda; social worker Lakhicharan Kundu; and other senior villagers.