Tag: caste marriage

Mysuru Man Surrenders After Allegedly Murdering Daughter Over Inter-Caste Relationship

The now deceased girl had approached police asking for protection and had only returned home after her parents gave an undertaking that they wouldn’t harm her.

New Delhi: A man in Mysuru has surrendered to police after admitting to having murdered his teenage daughter over an inter-caste relationship.

The 45-year-old father told police of Periyapatana Taluk that he, an ‘upper’ caste Vokkaliga man, had been upset over his 17-year-old daughter’s relationship with a Dalit boy, Hindustan Times has reported.

The boy was a resident of the Kaggundi village. The man and his daughter lived in neighbouring Kaggundi.

An officer of the Periyapatana police station told Hindustan Times that the girl had approached police alleging harassment at home over the relationship. She had also asked for protection from police, following which she was shifted to a government girls’ home in Mysuru city, according to the officer.

The Hindu has reported that her parents first appealed to and then brought her back after giving an undertaking to the Mysuru District Child Welfare Committee that they would not harm her and would also facilitate her education.

Police told news outlets that the girl initially told the Committee that she did not want to return with her parents. She agreed after officials paid a visit to her house and allegedly counselled her parents.

Police further said that the girl’s family attempted to convince her to cut off ties with the boy once she returned home. When she attempted to contact her boyfriend again, a fight began between her and her parents. In the early hours of Tuesday, June 7, her father strangled her to death.

The family initially disposed of her body by the road but a day later, the father surrendered to police.

Police have arrested both parents.

 

Woman Who Married AIADMK MLA Was Not Abducted, Says Madras High Court

Though Kallakurichi MLA A. Prabhu and his wife Soundarya said there was no coercion involved, the latter’s father filed a petition in the high court.

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.


In a separate video, Soundarya said that she was neither abducted nor threatened to participate in the marriage.

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.