Abduction case: Tenkasi cops pick up dad of Gujarat woman

MADURAI: A special team of police from Tenkasi picked up Naveen Patel, father of a 22-year-old Gujarati woman, who was allegedly abducted by her family with the help of henchmen for marrying a man from Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu.

Naveen’s whereabouts were traced in Gujarat aiding the arrest. Naveen remained absconding since the Madurai bench of Madras High Court had already refused to grant him bail as he’s one of the accused in the abduction case.

The investigation team is likely to produce Naveen before Judicial Magistrate on Sunday as a formal procedure and based on the outcome, further course of action would be on, sources said on Saturday.

Earlier, the Gujarati woman got married to a software engineer Mariappan Vineeth of Kottakulam, Tenkasi in the presence of his parents and relatives.

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 and expressed her wishes against staying with her parents.

On January 14, her parents along with henchmen were alleged to have abducted her from Tenkasi. Seeking protection, an online complaint was made to the Chief Minister’s grievance cell on January 17.

Courtallam police conducted enquiry on January 25 when the parents of the woman along with the henchmen chased the couple in a car and attacked their vehicle. After leaving Vineeth and his father under assault and threatened with dire consequences, they abducted her.

Based on a complaint by Vineeth, the Courtallam police on January 26 filed a case against her parents and five others under Sections 147, 294 (b), 324, 427, 366, and 506 (ii) of IPC.