Former south Indian star Rambha moved a Family Court in Chennai on Saturday, seeking to be declared and appointed as a natural guardian of her minor children.
The actor’s petition comes less than two months after an earlier petition seeking the court’s intervention to reunite her with her husband. The October 25 petition had been filed under the Hindu Marriages Act, which allows a person to seek restitution of conjugal rights where their spouse has withdrawn from the marriage without valid reason.
Rambha, whose original name is Vijayalakshmi, shot to fame with the Tamil film "Ullathai Allitha", and pursued a successful career acting in films in multiple languages. She married P Indrakumar, a civil engineer hailing from Sri Lanka and settled in Canada, in 2010. The couple have two girl children aged five years and one-and-a-half years.
According to Rambha’s petition, Indrakumar had been married earlier with that marriage ending in divorce, a fact that he had not disclosed to her at the time of their wedding.
She alleged that she had been harassed by her husband and his family after she gave birth to girl children. She also claimed that she was frequently questioned by her husband on the details of property she owned, and demands were made to transfer the property to him.
The petition also states that she was forced to move away from her children by moving a Canadian court against her, and she managed to get access to them only by approaching a superior court.
Her husband also filed an insolvency petition, but arrived at a compromise with her after the Canadian courts declined his petition, and the couple resumed living together, after which their second girl child was born.
However, with the birth of the second child, more harassment occurred.
In her petition, Rambha submitted that she had never wanted to be separated from her family, and as her husband had deserted her without reason, she had been forced to seek the restitution of her conjugal rights.
The petition added that her husband had neglected the care and well-being of their two children. “It is the legal and moral duty of the parents of minor children to provide good education and medical facilities, which are essential for the future of minor children. But these were being denied by her husband, which is unfortunate," the petition stated.
Hence, she had been forced to file a petition for custody of the children.
As the Presiding Officer of the court was on leave, the case has been adjourned till January 21.