Kerala girl returns to family after 2 yr captivity

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, May 27, 2018: A month or so after a girl from Kerala uploaded a video alleging that she was placed under house arrest by her mother for two years and locked up in Mangaluru, the 24-year-old has finally been set free, thanks to social media, the Mangaluru City police and the court.  Kavitha (name changed) was freed and reunited with the relatives of her deceased father in Thrissur, Kerala, on May 25, Friday, as per her wish.

“It is pertinent to note that there is no dispute that the victim is an adult, and that she cannot be detained in any counselling centre, as provided under law. As per the settled principle of law, any girl who has attained adulthood is at liberty to go anywhere, and she cannot be detained under the care and custody of anybody including parents,” reads the order from the II chief judicial magistrate court in Mangaluru.

Also, the court, paying heed to the request of the police and the victim, has agreed to transfer the case to Kerala, as the girl was kidnapped from Kerala.

“After hearing both sides and perusing the materials available on record, it is clear that earlier several incidents took place within the jurisdiction of the Guruvayoorpolice station, and later the victim and her boyfriend came to Mangaluru, and a case was registered. Therefore, if the entire case is transferred to the Guruvayoor police station, no hardship will be caused to the accused, as she is also a resident of Guruvayoor jurisdiction. I feel it is just and proper to transfer the case to Guruvayoor police station which is having the jurisdiction,” the court observed.

In a video that went viral since May 1, Kavitha alleged her mother had colluded with the Sangh Parivar and had got her locked in the house of an RSS leader in the city, as she did not approve of her relationship with a Muslim youth named Manas.

Soon after the video went viral, the city police arrested the accused and registered an FIR at the Mangaluru City Women’s Police Station. The police then produced the girl and accused before the II CJM Court.

While the court granted bail to the accused, it sent the girl to a counselling centre in the city as the mother, who is an accused in the case, had furnished medical certificates to the court to show the girl was mentally-challenged.

According to A Rajasimhan, the advocate representing the girl, she will meet chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and also DGP Lokanath Behera on Tuesday, and file a fresh complaint against her mother and other accused.

“She has sought an appointment with the CM and DGP. We will institute a fresh complaint against her mother, the mother’s paramour, a few members of the RSS and VHP and the doctor and the hospital in Kerala, that connived with the mother to show she was mentally-challenged, as well as against her abductors,” advocate Rajasimhan told media.