An inter-caste marriage has allegedly led to the suicide of the groom’s father in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district, and the family of the bride says, her husband has been abducted by his relatives.
Suresh Kumar, who belongs to the Gounder community, married a Dalit woman, Maheshwari in Bengaluru on February 17, 2017. Suresh was working in a TASMAC shop in Krishnagiri and Maheshwari was working as a domestic help in Bengaluru. They were in a relationship for the last two years.
When Suresh’s family came to know about the wedding, they called him back home on March 2.
And when he returned to Kodithimanapalli village in Krishnagiri along with his wife, a Panchayat meeting was called immediately, and the couple was asked to separate.
But Suresh and Maheshwari decided to approach the police instead.
Speaking to The News Minute, Maheshwari’s father Jenappa said, “They went to Shoolagiri police station after the Panchayat meeting on Thursday night. Police asked them to come on Friday morning and file a complaint. When they left home to go to the police station on Friday, Suresh’s relatives abducted him.”
However, the inspector of the Shoolagiri police station denied that Suresh was abducted by his relatives, claiming instead that Suresh had possibly run away.
“On March 2, Jenappa informed the police that his daughter - who was missing earlier - had reached Kodithimanapalli, and that she was married. But she was taken to Suresh Kumar’s area and his relatives were talking to them. We immediately sent police personnel to check what was happening,” he said.
The inspector said that the couple was brought to the police station on Thursday night. “We asked them to come to the police station on Friday morning to file a police complaint. But before coming, Suresh was reportedly taken away by one of his relatives. Maheshwari has filed a police complaint to find her husband,” he said.
Police has been searching for him but has not found him until now. “We called his father and two other relatives to the police station to inquire about Surest but they said he did not come home. He might be at some other relative’s house,” he said.
On Sunday morning, Suresh Kumar’s father B Basappa allegedly committed suicide by hanging on a tree. “We thought he would come to his house after finding out about his father’s death, but he did not come. We will find him and if we come to know that he ran away and wants to separate from the girl, we will arrest him for cheating the girl,” the inspector said.
Police claimed that Suresh Kumar’s father’s death was a suicide. “His daughter also had a love-marriage and now his son, he could not bear the stigma from the community, so he committed suicide,” the inspector said.
Meanwhile, the police has provided security to Maheshwari and her father is also asked to stay at a relative’s house.