Tenkasi kidnap case: Police told to obtain woman’s confession

MADURAI: The Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Tenkasi police to accommodate a 21-year-old woman, who earlier got married to a software engineer and was allegedly abducted by her parents, in a care home for two days to obtain a confession statement.

A software engineer Mariappan Vineeth of Kottakulam, Sengottai taluk, Tenkasi district, in a habeas corpus petition sought the court’s direction seeking to bring the woman, a native of Gujarat, whom he married, back to Tenkasi. Over the last six years, the petitioner said both himself and the woman were in love with each other.

However, they left their houses on December 27 last year and moved to Nagercoil. Their fathers then lodged a complaint with police about ‘woman missing’ and ‘man missing’. The woman on January 4, 2023 made a statement before the Courtallam Inspector that she wanted to marry Vineeth, the petitioner and expressed her wishes against staying with her parents. On January 14, her parents along with henchmen tried to abduct her from Tenkasi. Seeking protection, an online complaint was made to the Chief Minister’s grievance cell on January 17.

Based on that, the Courtallam police scheduled an enquiry on January 25 when parents of the woman along with the henchmen chased the couple in a car and attacked their vehicle. Based on the petitioner’s complaint, police on January 26 filed a case against her parents and five others.

Further, the petitioner stated that both of them actually got married on January 20. But, the police did not take any effective step to find the whereabouts of her and failed to arrest her parents On Tuesday, Tenkasi police produced her in court.

A division bench of Justice G Jayachandran and Justice Sunder Mohan directed the police to enquire witnesses and accommodate her in a care home to obtain a confession statement. Her safety is paramount in every aspect. The court also ordered the police to submit an investigation report in this case and adjourned the hearing until February 13.