Soundharya told the Madras High Court that she and Prabhu were in love and decided to get married. She also added that she will go with her husband of her own free will.
On Friday, the Madras High Court allowed AIADMK Prabhu’s Kallakurichi MLA to leave with his wife Soundharya, after she was brought before the court. The court ruled that the 19-year-old woman is an adult who voluntarily chose to marry the 35-year-old legislator and that the kidnapping case brought by her father does not stand.
A temple priest and member of the AIADMK party, S Swaminathan, had approached the Madras High Court on Monday claiming that his daughter had been abducted by the Dalit MLA and was forced to marry him. Furthermore, he claimed in his petition that he was threatened by the MLA family when he interrogated and filed a habeas corpus petition requesting that his daughter appear in court.
The priest also told the media that Prabhu was 15 years older than his daughter and that the age difference raised questions about whether she consented to the marriage. He claimed that the MLA had an illegal relationship with his daughter for three years, before she became an adult. However, speaking to TNM, the legislator said that although he had known Soundharya’s family for 10 years, the couple fell in love five months ago.
On Friday, Soundharya went to court with her husband and told the court made up of Justices MM Sundaresh and Krishnakumar that she is an adult and that no one forced her to marry. She said that she and Prabhu were in love and decided to get married. She also added that she will go with her husband of her own free will. Meanwhile, his father brought up the age difference again in court and said that Prabhu had cheated on his family.
However, the court ultimately ruled in favor of the MLA and said that due to the fact that Soundharya is an adult, it was incumbent on her to take a call with her husband. The case was closed.
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