Man’s family refuses to accept inter-caste marriage, woman now demands justice

BENGALURU: In a curious case, a woman, who claimed to have got married to her boyfriend after being in a relationship for one year, has alleged that she has been disowned by her husband and his family. They got married despite his family’s opposition.

According to the woman, Dharini, they went to Chennai after the marriage for five days. Later, the family of her husband Suresh got her to believe that she had been accepted as the daughter-in-law. Now, the husband has suddenly changed his stand saying that their castes and communities are different and that the wedding photos were not real, and were just for a photoshoot for a short movie. The woman is now demanding justice.

Dharani claimed, “We got married after being in love for one year. But now my husband and his family are not accepting me saying that I belong to a different caste. I complained to the K R Puram police, but I did not get a proper response. His family weaved a story about me and spoiled my life. I was suffering from depression and had even consumed poison, but no one from his family came to see me in hospital. Now my husband’s family is threatening to kill us. I don’t know what to do next, where should I go? He has abandoned me alone on the street just five days after the marriage. Everyone knew about our relationship. Suresh himself forced me to get married despite opposition from his family. I spoke with his family also and they are okay with our marriage”.

Dharani alleged that her husband Suresh and his family are refusing to accept her as the daughter-in-law.

She claimed that her husband is now saying that the marriage photos were from a photoshoot for a short movie. “I am not active on social media to make films. I have all the proof and evidence”, she insisted. “They are torturing me. I did not know about his community or family background. A year ago, he introduced himself as Rishi and said he belonged to the Gowda community, but he is actually from a different caste”, she said.

Dharani’s younger brother too alleged that Suresh’s family is threatening them to withdraw the case. “If not, they have threatened to kill us all. If we go to complain at the police station, Suresh will turn up there with a group of 20-25 people to threaten us”, he said.

Dharani’s brother said the family members are being threatened.

Meanwhile, Suresh’s family is alleging that Dharani is doing all this to extort money from him. “Suresh was saying that they knew each other, but did not marry her. They were planning to do a short movie and did a photoshoot for that. Dharani had got married someone else and now she is blackmailing him for extortion”, the family members alleged.

Preliminary investigation by the police has revealed that Dharini and Suresh knew each other and hung out together regularly. They were in a live-in relationship and the woman pressured him to get married. But his family did not agree to it due to caste differences. Suresh is now absconding and the police have not yet got conclusive proof marriage, sources said.