A young inter-caste couple's panicked cries for help from a car were heard by bystanders who stepped in to rescue them, at a traffic signal in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore on Wednesday, March 2. The couple alleged that the bride's family had pretended to accept their marriage, promised to take them to a temple from the police station where the couple had gone to announce their wedding, and later proceeded to threaten them while they were in a car together. The family has denied the allegations, and claimed the couple panicked for no reason and created a ruckus. The police have registered an FIR against the woman's family.
The couple, identified as Vigneshwar (22) and Sneha (19), got married on March 1 after a relationship of many years. Their parents, however, were opposed to their union. Vigneshwar belongs to the Gounder caste, classified as a Backward Class in Tamil Nadu, and Sneha is from the Devendrakula Vellalar caste, which falls under Scheduled Castes category.
Vigneshwar and Sneha, after their wedding on March 1, visited the Saravanampatti police station to let them know that their marriage was consensual. The police told TNM that while Vigneshwar’s family refused to accept the marriage, Sneha’s family said they would accept it, and expressed a wish to take them to the temple.
Vigneshwar and Sneha were put in a car, and Sneha’s family accompanied them. However, mid-journey, the family took out a knife and attempted to kill them, the couple alleged. Panicked, the couple started screaming for help when the car stopped at a traffic signal. Bystanders then helped them get out of the car, and called the police. A video of the incident shows traffic police and bystanders talking to the panicked and anxious couple, as they plead with people to not let the family take them away. The traffic police then stopped the car and questioned the family members about the couple’s allegations — which the family denied.
After a young inter-caste couple, in #Coimbatore, were rescued by bystanders, hearing their panicked cries for help from a car, the police have registered an FIR against the woman's family. The couple started trying to escape from a vehicle, when it stopped near a traffic signal. pic.twitter.com/gTRQbJRjrY
— azeefa (@AzeefaFathima) March 4, 2022
The video of the couple’s rescue has now gone viral on social media. In the video, Sneha and Vigneshwar are distressed, and allege that the family wanted to harm them. When the car with Sneha’s family members is stopped by the traffic police, Vignesh points to a person who was in the car, says that is Sneha’s uncle, and alleges he was the one holding the knife to his throat. Sneha disowns her father, as she pleads with bystanders and the police to save them. The couple repeatedly tell those gathered that they’re legally married, that they have all the documents and that the family promised to take them to a temple but wanted to harm them instead.
The family in the car however denied the allegations and claimed the couple simply panicked by themselves and started creating a ruckus. Sneha’s father first tells the police, “I am her father and both of them got married. It was without our agreement. We are going to a temple now.” When asked if there were any weapons in the vehicle, the family denied, and told the police they could check the vehicle if they wanted to.
The Race Course police, who were at the spot, then took the couple and the woman’s parents to the police station.
After the incident, Sneha and Vigneshwar were brought in for preliminary questioning. Sneha then filed an official complaint with the Saravanampatti police station, and the police have registered an FIR against three people — Sneha’s father, uncle and her cousin. The three have been booked under Sections 294(b) (uttering obscene words), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), and 506(i) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.