CUDDALORE: Two days after two dikshithars of Chidambaram Nataraja Temple were arrested in a child marriage case, the podhu dikshithars’ lawyer G Chandrasekhar said the police didn’t follow the court’s directions in the case. “On behalf of the podhu dikshithars, I want to clarify that we don’t encourage child marriage,” he added at a press conference in Chidambaram on Monday evening.
“The Cuddalore All Women Police Station registered cases under Sections 16 and 17 of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, under which the maximum imprisonment is two years. As per the Supreme Court, no arrests are to be made for crimes punishable with less than seven years. But the dikshithars were arrested,” Chandrasekhar said.
“Since this was brought up publicly, the police have now added Section 366A of the IPC, which is unbelievable,” the lawyer further said.