CHENNAI: In a bizarre case, a 33-year-old man, with bandages on his hand, sat on a hunger strike on the Tiruvallur Collectorate premises on Wednesday, alleging that his wife, along with a few others, had assaulted him.
Vijaya Murthy, an auto driver, said he would continue his strike until his wife was arrested for assaulting him. Officials and petitioners who arrived at the Collectorate were in for a surprise when Murthy, along with his parents and brother, squatted on the floor near the building’s entrance.
When officials approached them asking the reason for their protest, they heard the rather unusual case of a man complaining of physical abuse at the hands of his wife. Murthy told officials that the family resorted to the protest as the police neither took his complaint seriously nor registered an FIR.
“He said his wife separated from him a few years ago due to difference of opinion. On July 17, he had gone to the Tiruttani temple to drop a passenger. Since it was late hours, he had stayed there itself and slept in his auto after parking it on the roadside. Later in the night, his wife Bagiyalakshmi, who is now living in Tiruttani, came there with a few men and assaulted him with logs and knives,” police said.
Murthy said he was hospitalised for few days and that he was yet to recover from the fracture he suffered in his hand. After nearly 30 minutes of persuasion, he gave up the protest and agreed to submit his grievance as a petition to the Collector.
On Thursday, he appeared at the Tiruttani police station and submitted a written complaint about the incident. “So far, he never came forward to give a written complaint and as such we were unable to register a case. After he took up the matter with higher officials, we explained to him that he must give his complaint in writing. Once he gives it in writing, we will register an FIR,” police said.