On June 19, 25-year-old S Sakthi Tamilini Prabha was forcibly taken away by her parents - retired police officer Sundaraj and Amudha- for having married 35-year-old Karthikeyan, who belongs to another caste.
CCTV visuals have now emerged showing how Sakthi’s parents forcibly taking her away from Karthikeyan's house in Coimbatore, while some others in the group, carrying sticks, threaten a man. Karthikeyan and his mother were injured during the incident by Sakthi's parents.
The CCTV visuals captured from three different angles show Shakthi exiting the house with her parents surrounded by a few others. Two men have a firm grip on Sakthi’s hands and while she tries to shake them away, her mother who is seen closely following, pushes her from behind. While a man follows the group from behind, trying to stop them, two others from the group taking Sakthi away fall back and threaten the pursuer with sticks that they picked up off the ground.
Meanwhile, Coimbatore police told TNM that Sakthi is at her parents’ place in Trichy and that she had changed her statement. “She now claims that she went voluntarily with her parents. She says she wants to be with them for 15 days. The husband has objected to it and we have asked her to appear before the court within two days to submit her statement,” says the investigating official from Thudiyalur police station in Coimbatore. When we point out that the CCTV visuals show that she was indeed taken by force by her parents the official says, “She claims that she was trying to tell her pursuer that she’s going voluntarily with her parents.”
Sakthi who hails from Trichy belongs to the Devendra Kula Vellalar, part of the Scheduled Caste and is reportedly the daughter of a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police. She married Karthikeyan Rajendran from the Sengunthar Mudhaliar caste, a backward caste, on June 5 in a self-respect marriage, going against the wishes of her parents. Since their wedding, the couple had been staying with Karthikeyan’s parents in Edayarpalayam, Coimbatore.
Following the incident, Karthikeyan has lodged a complaint with Thudiyalur police station in which he has said that Sakthi’s parents had grievously attacked him and his mother while forcefully taking away his wife Sakthi. Karthikeyan has also said that Sakthi’s parents are even capable of committing a caste-based killing and therefore the police should immediately trace and rescue his wife. Karthikeyan and his mother who were hurt by Sakthi’s parents had to undergo treatment at a hospital.
Following Karthikeyan’s complaint, the police have registered a First Information Report under sections 143 (Punishment for unlawful assembly), 448 (Punishment for house-trespass), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 365 (Kidnapping or abduction with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and section 4 of the Tamilnadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.