Kausalya’s in-laws’ house gets armed police protection

Tirupur: A day after a trial court here awarded death penalty to six people in her husband Shankar murder case, armed police protection was provided to the in-laws’ house of Kausalya in Udumalpet from Wednesday. The protection is likely to be continued till her family wishes. The police protection was provided after Kausalya raised security concerns to herself and her in-laws.

During the post-judgment interview on Tuesday, Kausalya told media persons: “Even when the verdict was pronounced, the court premises witnessed an abnormal situation (because of some untoward incidents created by a few pro-caste people). Considering the acquittal of the three accused, including my mother Annalakshmi, I and Shankar’s family will face life threat. So, the police should provide us adequate protection.”

A six-member police team, led by two sub-inspectors, was deployed at Kausalya’s in-laws’ house at Komaralingam. The armed-police team consists of two women police personnel as well. They will be stationed in front of the house and roam around in the vicinity. The police will also keep tab on the people who enter the village, said Udumalpet deputy superintendent of police M Vivekanandhan.

“We will continue to give protection in shifts. The situation at Komaralingam is under control”, said district SP ES Uma.

When contacted, Shankar’s father C Velusamy said, “We need police protection after the pronouncement of the verdict. We are satisfied with the police protection given to us.”

Earlier, the police protection was given to them following Shankar’s murder. But it was withdrawn as no one stayed in the house. While Kausalya got a government job and moved to an undisclosed location, three other family members too moved to different places.“The protection was not needed at that time. But now with Kausalya started staying temporarily in the house after the judgment, we needed it,” Velusamy.