NAMAKKAL: Seemingly fazed by continuous threats and taunts, Perumal Murugan, the author of controversial novel Madhorubhagan fled Namakkal a couple of days ago and his house located at Kongu Nagar on Mohanur Road here remains locked.
Ever since certain caste groups resorted to protests against the novel, the author began receiving calls threatening him of dire consequences. Unable to bear a volley of verbal abuse every day, he was forced to switch off his mobile phone. A sense of fear gripped the family members as the protestors mounted pressure to take criminal action and arrest him.
“I had to leave my house in Namakkal because of the unrelenting protests and threats,” Perumal Murugan told Express on Saturday.
A hartal was also observed in Thiruchengode on Friday seeking his arrest and removal of the objectionable portions from the novel which dealt at length the custom and life of people a century ago in the background of the untold miseries of a childless couple.
The author was called by the police for a compromise talk at the District Police Office here on Thursday. But the representatives of the protesting groups did not turn up. Nevertheless, he submitted a written assurance to the police, as sought by them, stating that he would withdraw the copies already printed for sale and remove portions that are touted to be objectionable.
“I was waiting along with my advocates for a long time. But they (protesters) did not turn up to sit across the table for the talks,” he said.
When things appeared to go out of hands, he left his house on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, a group of Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK) men, led by its headquarters secretary Suriyamoorthy, submitted a petition to the SP seeking action against the novelist.