She worked at a hospital in Siraha as an auxiliary nurse midwife, he had just passed the civil service exams. They fell in love and decided to get married. The parents were reluctant at first, but eventually agreed and the wedding preparations began.
The date was set for 11 May and the couple began dreaming about their future together. Three weeks before the wedding, the girl attempted suicide because her parents couldn't afford demands from the boy’s side for Rs 300,000 as dowry. The girl begged her father to make arrangements saying she couldn’t marry anyone else, and even promised to pay back the debt. The family agreed and arranged for the cash with difficulty.
Invitations were sent out, the boy’s family also demanded a motorcycle and a laptop. The families sat together bargaining about the dowry. The boy finally said that he wouldn't marry until all the demands were met and agreed to wait for one year to give time for the girl's family to make arrangements.
She returned home disappointed and couldn't sleep all night thinking about what others would say, how she would live without the love of her life. She decided to end it all and drank pesticide. But she didn’t die and after a week at hospital in Lahan and Dharan, she returned home.
The girl's family filed a complaint against the boy's family demanding an investigation. Police took the boy in for questioning.
I was doing a radio program on the story and called the girl to inform her that the boy had been arrested. She told me in a feeble voice that she had heard. She also said that the two families had agreed to resolve their differences. "We are going to get married today," she said.
I wish the newlyweds all the best for their life and I hope the boy accepts and learns from his mistake. Dowry practice is prohibited by the law in Nepal, but a quarter of all cases of violence against women are believed to be caused due to demands in cash and kind from the groom’s family for the privilege of marrying him.
Nisha Rai, Setopati.com, 11 May