New Delhi: The Madras high court on Friday allowed AIADMK MLA from Kallakurichi, A. Prabhu to leave with his wife Soundarya, saying that the allegation by the latter’s father that she was ‘abducted’ does not hold.
The 19-year-old woman is an adult and has willingly chosen to marry the 35-year-old legislator, the court observed, according to The News Minute.
Earlier this week, Soundarya’s father Swaminathan claimed that his daughter was ‘abducted’ and that he had received death threats from the ruling party. While Soundarya is a Brahmin, Prabhu belongs to the Dalit community. Swaminathan had claimed that his objection to the couple’s marriage was not due to Prabhu’s caste, but due to the difference in their ages: Soundarya is 19-years-old and Prabhu is 35.
According to The News Minute, Soundarya came to court on Friday with her husband and told the bench of Justices M.M. Sundaresh and Krishnakumar that nobody compelled her to get married. She told the court that she and Prabhu are in love and had voluntarily decided to get married.
The court ruled in favour of the couple, saying since Soundarya is an adult, it “was up to her to take a call on going with her husband” and closed the case.
Previous developments
The couple were wedded on Monday morning, when according to a News Minute report, Swaminathan arrived at Prabhu’s house and threatened to immolate himself in protest. He doused himself in flammable liquid and said that Soundarya had been abducted by the MLA.
Police stopped him and an FIR was lodged against Swaminathan, a temple priest by profession, for attempting to die by suicide.
A New Indian Express report said Swaminathan claimed to have received threats from supporters of the ruling party’s MLA, asking him not to report the incident to the police.
The TNM report cited that local reports which said that Swaminathan alleged that Prabhu was a family friend for 15 years and had been in a relationship with his daughter for the last four years, from the time when she was a minor.
Prabhu, however, denied the claim. He released a video along with his wife, in which Prabhu said that the couple had been in a relationship for just four months. He also denied the claims that he had abducted Soundarya, adding that when he approached his wife’s family for permission to marry her, they refused.
36-yr-old Kallakurichi MLA Prabhu clarifies that neither did he kidnap nor force 19-yr-old Soundarya into marrying him. His inter-caste wedding with her, a brahmin woman, has created a storm in TN @thenewsminute pic.twitter.com/84TfyYamZd
— Anjana Shekar (@AnjanaShekar) October 6, 2020
In a separate video, Soundarya said that she was neither abducted nor threatened to participate in the marriage.
S Soundarya, wife of #AIADMK MLA from Kallakurichi, says she was neither threatened nor abducted by the legislator. “I married him on my own. The wedding took place with my consent,” she says in the video 👇
Her father had alleged that Prabhu had abducted Soundarya @DeccanHerald pic.twitter.com/sXaohaD1aK— Sivapriyan E.T.B | சிவப்பிரியன் ஏ.தி.ப (@sivaetb) October 6, 2020
The practice of filing abduction or kidnapping cases when an inter-caste couple gets married against the wishes of the family is viewed as a pressure tactic. In 2013, the Centre told the Supreme Court that it was against an FIR being filed in such cases before the woman’s view is taken.
Note: This article was first published on October 7, 2020 and was updated on October 9, 2020 to include details about the Madras high court’s ruling.