The couple with their relatives after marriage in Buxar. Telegraph picture

Radheshyam Malakar, a murder convict serving life sentence in the Buxar Open Jail, tied the knot at Ramrekha Ghat temple in the district on Saturday, around 140km west of Patna.

Radheshyam, 38, hailing from Samastipur district in north Bihar, was convicted of the murder of a neighbour in 2002. He has now been allowed to stay with his newly wed wife in a flat allotted to him by the authorities within the prison.

The open jail, the first of its kind in Bihar, was set up in 2012 with the objective of re-integrating the prisoners into society.

Acting jail superintendent A.K. Ambastha said: “The marriage was solemnised by the temple priest in the presence of the bride and the bridegroom’s relatives and jail officers. Instead of the baaratis (groom’s kin) visiting the bride’s place, the bride’s kin came down to Buxar from Nalanda.”

The bride had reportedly fallen in love with Radheshyam when the latter was recently released on parole. “Radheshyam proposed the girl, who accepted it willingly,” said Sarika, the bride’s bhabhi, who attended the function on Saturday.

“The bride and the groom are distant relatives. The bride’s family had earlier met the groom in the jail to finalise the marriage,” Ambastha told The Telegraph.

Malakar, a skilled labourer, has spent 12 years in jail and would be released in two years.

Each family inside the jail has been provided with fully furnished one-room flats with kitchen and toilet. There are altogether 104 flats on its campus. The jail houses only low-risk prisoners.