HYDERABAD: A man who married an Andhra Pradesh IAS officer at the residence of an IPS officer is being challenged by a woman who claims to have married him several years ago and never divorced.
P Poojitha, a Telugu actress, she says she doesn't have a certificate to prove her marriage but almost everything else: a 14-year-old son, a video-cassette of their wedding, a ration card, a voter ID card, her delivery report and her son's school admission records.
Is that enough to prove the veracity of the 'marriage' of Poojitha and P Vijay Gopal? The Hyderabad police are mulling over this question, one that involves a trio with powerful connections in the bureaucracy and politics.
The man is P Vijay Gopal, who started off as a journalist in a Telugu newspaper and is presently the personal assistant of Andhra Pradesh (Araku) MP Kothapalli Geetha. The woman he married recently is an IAS officer, G Rekha Rani. She is the widow of an IPS officer Paradesi Naidu who was killed by the Maoists in a mine blast in Mahabubnagar 22 years ago. And their recent wedding (duly registered) took place at the Hyderabad residence of a senior Andhra Pradesh IPS officer Anjana Sinha.
Poojitha was summoned by the SR Nagar police on Wednesday after her complaint was forwarded to them by Hyderabad commissioner of police M Mahendar Reddy, an IPS officer. She was issued a notice to prove her marriage with P Vijay Gopal.
Speaking to Express, Poojitha said: "I am making a CD of the video-cassette of our marriage. I can prove that we were married. I can prove that he is the father or my son." However, she admits she does not have a marriage certificate. The wedding was never registered as per law. "We were married in 1994 and we never thought it necessary to register it," she said.
Poojitha says her intention in filing a police complaint of cheating is only to help Rekha Rani. She says she has no intention of ever getting back together with Vijay Gopal and only wants him punished as per law. Rekha Rani says she needs no help from Poojitha.
"She is my husband's ex-girlfriend. She never made an attempt to make a family. Her relationship did not work out and mine is. I do not need her help," said the IAS officer who is the vice-chairman and managing director of Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP).
She says the case does not worry her; all that she is concerned about at present is to bring the National Games to Andhra Pradesh in 2018. Anjana sinha, an additional director-general (technical) in the AP police, refused to comment.
Poojitha, in her complaint to the police commissioner, said she and her son sense a threat from Vijay Gopal, Rekha Rani and Anjana Sinha and sought police protection. The SR Nagar police cases would be registered on the basis of the evidence of marriage submitted by Poojitha.