A Dalit youth from Kolakudi village in Tiruchi district has alleged that he and his family are being subjected to continuous harassment and violence by the family of a caste Hindu girl, whom he reportedly married last December but were immediately separated and the girl was married off to another person.

The youth, T Balaji (29), the first graduate from his family working as a teacher in a private school near Namakkal for two years, claimed that the girl’s family had also taken away his educational certificates.

Speaking to The Hindu at the office of Madurai-based NGO Evidence, which is presently assisting him, Mr. Balaji alleged that no action had been taken despite repeated complaints made at Thathaiyengarpettai police station, Musiri Deputy Superintendent of Police office and with the Tiruchi District Collector.

According to Mr. Balaji, he and a 19-year-old girl from neighbouring Valasiramani village belonging to an intermediate caste were in love. Though the girl’s family rebuked her many times, their relationship continued as the school, where Mr. Balaji worked, and the college where the girl studied were close by.

Meanwhile, as the girl became pregnant, Mr. Balaji said that they decided to get married on December 6, 2015. “We met the night before near a temple outside Valasiramani. I knew that her family and their men were searching for us. So I tied the thali immediately,” he said.

However, according to him, the couple was caught and beaten up by the girl’s family, who allegedly removed her thali and made one of their relatives tie the knot on the same night.