M Niyas Ahmed By

Even as the wounds caused by the tragic separation of Divya and Ilavarasan remains unhealed, yet another young inter-caste couple in Dharmapuri district has been forced to part ways allegedly due to pressure exerted by local police personnel.

What is audacious is that the police had played dirty games though the couple had briefed the Dharmapuri Superintendent of Police Asra Garg itself of their hapless plight. On July 30, K Prakash, a Scheduled Caste resident of Kokkarapatti in Pappireddipatti here had eloped

with his lover Kavitha, belonging to an upper caste Hindu family and took refuge at a friend’s house in Tirupattur.

On learning about their elopement, Kavitha’s parents lodged a complaint at the A Pallapatti Police Station alleging that Prakash had abducted her. Fearing the worse, the couple got married at a Perumal temple in Sundarampalli village in Tirupattur on August 5.

“The same day evening, we approached Dharmapuri SP Garg seeking protection. The SP assured to safeguard us. Since a case was registered against me at the A.Pallapatti, the SP asked us to appear before the jurisdictional court in Pappireddipatti,” Prakash said.

However, the police took them to the All Women Police Station (AWPS) at Harur and ‘detained’ them for the night. “Throughout our stay at the station, the APallapatti Sub-Inspector Gopal and the Harur AWPS Sub-Inspector Vijaya intimidated us and secured our signatures on blank papers. Later, on their own they wrote on the sheets of paper that Kavitha was willing to go with her parents. The police submitted these papers in the court - where we were produced before the judge separately - on the basis of which we have been separated now,” alleged Prakash.

The hapless Dalit youth says he had failed to register his marriage. “We simply exchanged garlands and I tied the thaali (a wedding string) and took snaps,” he said showing some wedding photographs.

“Now, Kavitha’s parents are forcing her to marry another person and threatened to kill her if she refused to agree to their wishes,” he rued. A desperate Prakash has once again knocked at the doors of the SP to save Kavitha from what he fears could lead to a possible honour killing.

When Express contacted Garg, he said, “After the couple met me on August 5, I had warned Kavitha’s parents saying if she wanted to live with Prakash, they should not disturb her. But Kavitha had filed an affidavit in the court stating that she wished to go with her parents. In any case, I will immediately conduct an inquiry and certainly give protection to her.”