KANNUR: The Kerala police are investigating yet another case of ‘Mysore Kalyanam’ after a young woman who was allegedly under the forced custody of a 52-year-old man was rescued in Taliparamba.
'Mysore Kalyanam" is said to be a practice in which Muslim men from Mysore marry women from the Malabar region only to dump them once the dowry money is spent. This has been reported in Kerala’s Kozhikode, Kannur, Malappuram and Wayanad districts for years. Agents usually arrange these marriages misrepresenting the financial background of the bridegrooms. It is usually people from lower-economic classes that fall prey to these marriage scams.
According to Talimparambu deputy superintendent of police K V Venugopal, the 18-year-old woman was rescued after the intervention of a social worker. "The woman is in custody and the man, identified as Ummar from Sreekantapuram, who married the girl, is absconding," he said.
"We are verifying the details and a case will be registered only after a thorough probe," he said.
Police said the marriage is said to have taken place on February 11, 2017 at Bengaluru. "She was being tortured since then at the man’s residence in Taliparamba. It's alleged that he has other wives and that the girl resisted his sexual advances. Local residents intervened after hearing the screams of the girl from the house," police added.
Initial verification of documents revealed that the woman was a major and that there was a marriage certificate issued by a mosque. Police have informed the relatives of the girl about the incident.