The Tamil Nadu police have refuted the claims by an Army personnel, posted in Kashmir, that his wife was stripped half naked and beaten continuously by men in the state, officials familiar with the matter said. The police, on Sunday, said that the case is of a dispute over a land lease between the soldier’s wife, Keerthy, and some men. The police also said that the department has given protection to Keerthy. “Initial investigations show no one attacked Keerthy or insulted her or her mother,” said a statement from the police, adding that the video posted by the soldier appears to be “exaggerated”.
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Identifying himself as Prabhakaran, a havildar from Thiruvannamalai district, the soldier had recorded a video on June 10, speaking in Tamil, which went viral on social media after a retired army officer Colonel N Thiagarajan shared it on Twitter.
Police from the Kandavasal village of Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu, in a two-page statement, said that some people had thrown away things from his wife’s shop, which is that disputed land, on June 10. The soldier’s wife and her mother had signed an agreement in February to return the land for money, but they refused to vacate after which the men took goods from their shop and threw it away, the police added.
“My wife has a shop. More than 120 people have beat her up. She is bleeding from her ears and nose,” Prabhakaran said, showing a petition submitted to superintendent of police (SP), Thiruvannamalai district, K Karthikeyan. The Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president K Annamalai spoke to the havildar over phone to express his party’s support. “Truly gutted to hear her story and I felt ashamed that this had happened to her on our Tamil soil,” Annamalai tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}“My wife has a shop. More than 120 people have beat her up. She is bleeding from her ears and nose,” Prabhakaran said, showing a petition submitted to superintendent of police (SP), Thiruvannamalai district, K Karthikeyan. The Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president K Annamalai spoke to the havildar over phone to express his party’s support. “Truly gutted to hear her story and I felt ashamed that this had happened to her on our Tamil soil,” Annamalai tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}The investigation is underway, the police said, assuring that the culprits will be arrested and action will be taken soon.
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“With regards to the video made by Indian army soldier Mr. Prabakar on social media, preliminary investigation reveals that his family has a civil dispute with one Ramu’s family over a leased shop,” said the SP Karthikeyan. ”There was a scuffle between both sides yesterday (on Saturday). FIR has been registered based on the complaint and the case is under investigation. Appropriate legal action will be taken. The soldier’s family has been given police protection.”