Chennai: An 18-year-old maid who was forced to marry a widower was rescued by her employer and released to his care by the Madras High Court on Tuesday.
A division bench comprising Justices M Jayachandran and Bhaskaran allowed a habeas corpus petition from Arokia Mary’s employer Prem Kumar and ordered that the girl may return to his family as per her own wishes.
Mary’s mother Dhanalakshmi was present in the court but the girl refused to even speak to her. Taking note of the girl’s testimony that she liked catering, the court also ordered that she may be enrolled for training at Hot Breads in Alwarpet and Prem Kumar would deposit Rs 3,000 every month in her savings account.
Earlier during the hearing, Mary expressed desire to be with the petitioner, whom she called ‘daddy’, and his family in their house at Anna Nagar. When the judges asked her what she would like to take up as career, she said she liked catering.
In his petition, Prem Kumar told the court that Mary had first come to his house, brought by her parents as domestic help in 2011. They told him she was 16 years old but refused to show any evidence of her age.
Taking pity upon the puny girl, his wife Sanjitha and he took Mary into their house and treated her as a member of their family. She was given private tuition in English and math and being an intelligent girl, quickly learnt to speak and write English, besides mastering some vocational skills such as tailoring. The girl also learnt computer skills and played badminton and chess, Prem Kumar said.
He said apart from paying her mother Dhanalakshmi periodically, he saved Rs 3,000 every month in Mary’s banking account and this sum had now added up to Rs 1.55 lakh.
While Mary was thus well taken care of and the girl herself enjoyed her freedom and wellbeing as a member of his family, Dhanalakshmi brought a proposal for Mary in July this year but the girl rejected it. The mother came back in September and took the girl to their native Villupuram under the pretext of making her participate in the church communion. However, the real purpose was to force the girl into marrying a widower named Lasar.
When she refused to cooperate, Lasar tried to molest her saying he had paid her parents Rs 50,000 besides promising a motorbike and a piece of land to her brother.
The girl’s father allegedly stood guard outside the locked door while Lazar tried to molest the girl. Mary, however, came out screaming and climbed a tree.
Neighbours came to rescue and one of them called Prem Kumar to help.
“When I went there, I found Mary protected in a neighbour’s house. She had visible injuries and her face was swollen”, Prem Kumar told the court, adding that Dhanalakshmi had even threatened him with dire consequences if he stopped her daughter’s marriage to Lasar.
With police help, the girl was rescued and lodged in ‘Abhayam Illam’, a home for girls at Villupuram. It turned out that when Prem Kumar visited her, she sobbed saying the place was like a prison. Following this, he moved the habeas corpus petition for restoring the unhappy girl to the care of his family.
“I am happy returning to daddy’s care. He and his family gave me the love that was denied at my house. And they taught me skills to be independent. I am grateful to them”, Mary told DC.
