The daughter of Krishna and Khushboo in Motihari. Picture by Ajit Kumar Verma

Motihari, July 18: A middle-aged man allegedly abducted his daughter today after stabbing his son-in-law and throwing the couple’s six-month-old daughter on a road in the district headquarters of East Champaran.

Krishna Kumar Ram, the husband of Khushboo Kumari, 22, was admitted to the sadar hospital with multiple injuries.

Their daughter is in the custody of the Government Railway Police (GRP).

The incident occurred near Durga temple on Chandmari Road under Sadar police station around 3.30am when the couple were on their way to Gandhi Nagar (Motihari) on a rickshaw after alighting Gorakhpur-Muzaffarpur passenger train at Bapu Dham railway station (Motihari).

Sources said two persons riding a motorcycle intercepted them and attacked the husband with a sharp-edged weapon. Khushboo was forced to sit on the motorcycle, while the baby was thrown on the road. Ram, who received at least 12 stab injuries, was immediately rushed to Sadar hospital for treatment.

The woman was scheduled to depose before a local court in connection with a kidnapping case lodged by her father, Raghvendra Singh, with the Patahi police station. A resident of Gonahi village, Raghvendra was allegedly not happy with her daughter’s decision to marry a boy belonging to a different caste.

Eyewitnesses told the police that the abductors escaped towards north after abducting the woman on the motorcycle, leaving the baby abandoned on the road.

“They escaped under the cover of darkness. It was difficult for them to recognise the abductors,” said a member of a Banjara group, who had taken shelter in makeshift tents beside the road.

On reaching the spot, GRP personnel found a cellphone, Rs 1,000 in cash and some documents related to the kidnapping case lodged against Ram. “On the basis of the seized documents, Ram’s family members were informed about the incident,” said Dilip Kumar Singh, the assistant station manager on duty.

Ram divulged the name of Manoj Singh and Trilok Singh as the accused persons, who allegedly attacked him in the morning and drove away with his wife. Ram added that he, along with his wife, was staying at Hisar in Haryana after eloping from their native village in East Champaran district about a year ago.

The police did not rule out the involvement of the woman’s father in the incident. East Champaran superintendent of police (SP) Ganesh Kumar said: “The possible involvement of Khushboo’s father could not be ruled out because he had earlier lodged a kidnapping case against Ram.”

The police have launched a massive manhunt to arrest the accused persons and find out Khushboo.