CHENNAI: A minor teen who eloped with her boyfriend, married him and became pregnant, told a division bench she got the idea of running away after watching Tamil flicks.
Apparently worried, the bench comprising justices S Nagamuthu and Anitha Sumanth issued notice to the persons running the regional censor board, who granted certificates to such movies, directing them to appear in court and offer explanation on March 27.
“They are directed to appear before the court for the purpose of explaining as to why necessary action should not be taken against them, who are responsible for exhibiting such kind of cinemas involving POCSO Act offences,” the bench said on Monday.
The Plus-Two student of a school in Mayiladuthurai, who eloped with her boyfriend in May last was traced in February. She told the judges that her thoughts on elopement were shaped by such scenes in many films.
It was her father Sundararajan who lodged a police complaint stating that his daughter went missing on May 26 last. He later came to know that she had eloped with a local youth, Vimalraj (22). The Myladuthurai police registered a ‘girl missing’ case.
Police inquiries revealed that Vimalraj was involved in several criminal cases in Myladuthurai region. His father too was involved in several cases.
The police team tracking the couple later traced them to Kozhikode on the basis of their mobile phone location.
However, when they reached there on February 10, the couple had moved out. They appeared before the Madras High Court bench on Monday after they came to know that a haebas corpus petition had been filed to trace them.
When the judges questioned her, as per the haebas corpus petition procedure, they came to know that she was four months pregnant.
The girl also told the judges that she had eloped with Vimalraj on her own volition.
In anguish, the division bench orally observed that society had been spoiled by the exhibition of such bad films.