COIMBATORE: A 25-year-old woman and her 26-year-old husband, who had an inter-caste marriage on Tuesday, have sought police protection from the bride’s family, who has threatened to murder the groom.
Vinitha Selvaraj and her husband Muthukumar Rajendran, working as teachers in a Namakkal-based school, petitioned city police commissioner Sumit Sharan in this regard on Wednesday.
In her complaint, Vinitha, who hails from Sangagiri in Salem, said she is an engineering graduate and that she has been working as a teacher in a school in Thiruchengode, Namakkal. “She said she was in love with Erode-based Muthukumar Rajendran, who works in the school as a physical education master, for more than a year. When she told her parents about the relationship, they opposed it because Muthukumar belonged to the gavara naidu caste, while they were kongu vellalar gounders.”
According to the officer, when Vinitha insisted on marrying Muthukumar, her mother, aunt and uncle K Bhaskar began to threaten her. “They threatened to harass them if they got married and even threatened to kill Muthukumar. When she did not back down, they locked her in her house for days,” the officer said, quoting her complaint.
Vinitha, however, managed to escape from her house on Sunday afternoon and eloped with Muthukumar. The couple took a bus to Coimbatore, where they believed Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam was strong, and got married in Gandhipuram on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, they petitioned the city police commissioner. “Since I still fear my family, I seek protection for my husband and myself from my family,” Vinitha said in her complaint.
The couple was sent to the Ramanathapuram all-woman police station, where officers are expected to reach out to the girl’s family.
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