The State government has established special cells with 24-hour helpline in all districts to receive complaints of harassment or threat to couples of inter caste marriages, according to a status report filed in the Madras High Court in reply to a contempt of court petition filed against former Home Secretary Apurva Varma.
The report stated that all directions issued by the High Court on the issue on April 13, 2016, had been complied with and an elaborate system had been put in place by the Superintendents of Police, District Social Welfare Officers and District Adi Dravidar Welfare Officers to deal with problems faced by those who entered into inter- caste marriages.
Providing a list of the 24-hour helpline numbers and the places from where those helplines were functioning in each district, the report said instructions had been issued to Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to monitor on a regular basis the complaints received by the special cells and the action taken on such complaints.
The special cells had albeen asked to take steps to provide counselling to the parents of the couples as ordered by the court. it added. In so far as provision of shelter to couples facing threat was concerned, the court was told that that the police were utilising the family counselling centres under the social welfare department.
Further, the Director General of Police had issued a circular on February 10, 2017 instructing Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to fix responsibility on the officers who fail to provide protection to such couples and four police personnel were punished for failing to protect V. Vimaladeivi, a victim of honour killing in Usilampatti in 2014, the report added.
After taking it on file, Justice M. Sathyanarayanan adjourned further hearing on the contempt of court petition to August 9.
