Nearly eight months after a Vanniyar community girl’s marriage to a Dalit boy last year had triggered violence against Dalits in Naickenkottai village in November and revived communal tensions in Dharmapuri district that year has decided to go back to her maternal home.
The girl N Divya, who appeared before a Madras High Court division bench of Justices M Jaichandran and M M Sundresh on Thursday in connection with a habeas corpus petition filed by her mother Thenmozhi, said she was in a disturbed frame of mind and preferred to stay with her mother, rather than with her husband E Elavarasan. Divya left her matrimonial home on Tuesday after she received a call from Thenmozhi saying she was unwell. Later, she failed to take Elavarasan’s calls, prompting him to lodge a police complaint on Wednesday.
Some months ago, Thenmozhi had filed a habeas corpus petition alleging that her daughter was in the illegal custody of Elavarasan.
On Thursday, when judges asked Divya, who was accompanied by her mother, with whom she wanted to live, she said she was highly disturbed due to the violence that took place after her father’s death, and would like to stay with her mother, before taking an appropriate decision. She also said she did not want to talk to her husband, who was present in court, for the time being. Divya told the judges she had gone to her mother’s house on her own volition.
The judges said she was at liberty to stay with her mother, and made it clear it would be open to Divya, as well as Elavarasan, to make appropriate requests to the police for protection. If such requests were made, authorities concerned should provide sufficient protection, the judges said and posted the next hearing for July 1.