Woman locked up for a year over inter-faith affair

Team Udayavani, May 7, 2018, 11:26 AM IST

Mangaluru: A 24-year- old Kerala woman was rescued by the police last week after a video went viral on social media. The woman was allegedly confined to a room by her mother after she learnt of her friendship with a man from another community. The victim, who hails from Thrissur had been locked up for a year now.

Two months ago, the victim released a video from an undisclosed location in Mangaluru explaining how she was tortured by right-wing men. The viral video was even aired by a Malayalam channel on Saturday, where the woman alleged that she was being harassed by RSS and BJP workers and she was illegally detained in a BJP leader’s house.

DCP (crime and traffic), Uma Prashant, said, “The woman was rescued from a rented house in Barke five days ago and has been shifted to a rehabilitation centre now. Her mother has been booked for forceful detention.”

The woman’s boyfriend said that they were in a relationship for two years, and knew each other for eight years. “Her father died a few years ago. When her mother learnt about our relationship, she thrashed her and shifted her to a hospital in Kochi. There was no communication until two months ago when she contacted me on a cellphone. She sent me a video that I passed on to the media. I sent a copy of the video to police and the Kerala CM’s private secretary,” he said.

In the video, the woman says she was taken to Kochi’s Amrita Hospital for psychiatric assessment and kept in an RSS orphanage for two months. “My relatives are spreading lies about me. I was beaten up. Some BJP workers brought me here against my wish. I need help. They won’t let me live if they get to know I’ve used a cellphone.”