It was an emotional moment for Madhavi, who was hacked by her own father for marrying a man of her choice, as she stands up from her wheelchair. Bravely, she addresses the media.
“It’s like my father is dead to me,” Ms. Madhavi said on Wednesday as she described the ordeal at the time of the attack, as she was flanked by her husband and a phalanx of doctors at Yashoda Hospitals.
Her father, Manohar Chary, she said, wanted to meet her, but little did she know on that fateful day, September 19, that he would attack her and her husband B. Sandeep, a Dalit.
“I did not take my academic certificates and clothes with me before the wedding. He (Mr. Chary) said he would give them to me when if I met him,” she said. Soon after, the couple were attacked.
Ms. Madhavi believes she was attacked as her father was not informed of her marriage. But she said even if she had, it would not have mattered to him much.
“I don’t have faith in him. He would not have understood my feelings and emotions,” she said and opined that her father would have forcibly gotten her betrothed to a person of his choice.
Her husband, Mr. Sandeep, who was attacked too , has been a pillar of support to her. But he too expresses concerns. “If he (Mr. Chary) is not punished, I fear that he will attack us again,” he said and added, “I only want to live in peace with her.”
Mr. Sandeep claims his mother-in-law sought to convince Ms. Madhavi to take a stand, which would save the attacker from the clutches of law. “But she refused to do anything of that sort,” Mr. Sandeep said. The couple thanked caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and former legislator T. Srinivas Yadav for helping them to deal with the ordeal.
Smooth recovery
A team of doctors at Yashoda Hospitals headed by vascular surgeon Devender Singh said Ms. Madhavi has made a ‘smooth recovery’. “When she was brought here, she had a major injury. Her haemoglobin was low. Her hand was cut in two places,” Dr. Singh said.
At the time of discharge, the couple said they intend to meet Mr. Yadav and then go to their house at Moti Nagar, Erragadda.
