A newlywed woman from Bihar’s Saran district has alleged that her in-laws in Haryana sold her off to porn filmmakers.

Ruby Kumari, who is in her late twenties, said that when she realised what her in-laws had done, she fled and travelled alone by train to reach her family home in Phenhara village in Saran district’s Marhaura sub-division on Sunday.

She narrated her ordeal to her parents, who lodged a complaint against her husband, Tiku Patikara, and three members of his family on Monday at Taraiya police station, around 70km northwest Patna.
Ruby was married to Tiku alias Kishan Lal of Mahendragarh, Haryana, in Saran district on January 8.

She alleged that she was sold off for Rs 7 lakh after her parents failed to fulfil her in-laws’ dowry demand of Rs 2 lakh in cash and a costly motorbike.

“I escaped from the house with the help of some neighbours before they (her in-laws) could hand over me to porn filmmakers,” she added in the complaint.

She alleged that her in-laws’ were pressing for more dowry, which her parents could not afford to provide.

Her in-laws, she said, forced her to work as a farm labourer.

“She was so frightened when she reached home,” Ruby’s father, Mohan Raut, told The Telegraph. “I was shocked to see her in such a condition.”

Raut (42), a daily wage labourer, said that he had arranged Ruby’s marriage with the help of his neighbours.

“At least three girls of my neighbourhood had been married to Haryana residents in the past. I approached Tiku’s family through some relatives of these girls,” he said. “It’s a bad omen. What can I do?”

Taraiya police station SHO Ajay Kumar Paswan said that Ruby’s family fled from their house after some reporters started asking them questions.

“I have been trying to record the victim’s statement since Tuesday but in vain,” Paswan said.

The SHO said that initial investigations suggested that Ruby’s parents had arranged her marriage in haste because she had fallen in love with a man from her village.

Paswan said local people had told the police that “the issue was raised at the local panchayat’s meeting before the girl’s wedding.”

Ruby’s purported boyfriend is apparently missing after the police initiated investigation into the girl’s complaint.

“A police team will soon go to Haryana after recording the girl’s statement,” the SHO said.

An IG-rank officer posted at the state police headquarters said: “We have never come across any such incident in the past when a newlywed girl had been sold off to those involved in making porn films.”