Father, relatives kill son for refusing to marry again

A man in a village in Bihar's Bhojpur district declined to carry out his father's order to desert his wife and marry another woman. The enraged father and other relatives beat the son to death, police said on Wednesday.

Dharmendra Choudhary, in his late 20s, was killed Tuesday, allegedly by his father and other family members in Saropur village of Bhojpur district, 60 km from state capital Patna.

"Dharmendra was beaten to death by his father and others after he refused to marry again," a police officer said.

Dharmendra's father-in-law Budhan Choudhary has lodged an FIR (first information report) at the Piro police station and blamed Dharmendra's father and other family members for the killing.

Budhan said his daughter Anita Kumari married Dharmendra in 2003 and the couple had no children. "Dharmendra's family members were pressurising him to marry again but he refused time and again as he was happy with his life."

Dharmendra had a heated conversation with his father and other family members on Tuesday. After that he was beaten to death.

It is common in rural Bihar for families to force their sons to marry again if the couple do not have children after three years of marriage.