A 24-year-old woman has accused her relatives and the Sangh Parivar of abducting and keeping her in illegal confinement for around two years for intending to marry a Muslim man.
Anjali Prakashan, who hails from Ariyannoor in Thrissur, met State Police Chief Loknath Behera at the police headquarters on Monday with a complaint and sought action against those responsible. However, the police refused to register a case, citing that it was under investigation by the Mangaluru police. She alleged that she had been subjected to brutal torture since August 2016 after the death of her father.
Anjali accused her mother, uncles, and an aunt of brutally assaulting her and threatening her with dire consequences if she insisted on marrying the man, named Manas. She alleged that activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) assisted them in abducting and taking her to a private hospital in Kochi, where she was drugged by a psychiatrist in a bid to portray that she was mentally ill. Manas then filed a habeas corpus petition, which was dismissed after her mother submitted a medical certificate issued by the hospital, Anjali alleged.
She said she was confined in several houses in Thrissur and Ernakulam. She was taken to the Ernakulam North police station after she attempted to escape. However, the Circle Inspector ignored her pleas and manhandled Manas, against whom a false case was registered, she alleged.
Later, she was taken to Mangaluru where she was kept captive for one-and-a-half years in three houses. She said she posted a video on Facebook, describing her plight, following which she was rescued by the Mangaluru police on May 1 and sent to a shelter house. A few days ago, she was handed over to her maternal uncle, who supported her. She applied for registering her marriage with Manas under the Special Marriages Act on Saturday.
Emerging from the meeting, she said the police would take up the case only after it was transferred from Mangaluru. In the meantime, she would move the High Court, she added.
