Hyderabad: A video highlighting the ordeal of the wife of an Army jawan, who is stationed in Kashmir, about her being “stripped half-naked and brutally beaten” by a group of people in Kadavasal village in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu surfaced on Twitter.
Retired Army officer, Lt Col N Thiagarajan, posted the video on Twitter. The video featured Havildar Prabhakaran, who is from Tamil Nadu’s Padavedu village. The Army jawan is seen describing the 'ordeal' undergone by his wife.
“My wife runs a shop in a place on lease. She was beaten up by 120 men and the shop’s items were thrown out. I’ve sent a petition to SP and he has assured action. DGP sir, please help. They have attacked and threatened my family with knives. My wife was stripped half-naked and brutally beaten," he said in the video.
- — Lt Col N Thiagarajan Veteran (@NTR_NationFirst) June 10, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
— Lt Col N Thiagarajan Veteran (@NTR_NationFirst) June 10, 2023
">— Lt Col N Thiagarajan Veteran (@NTR_NationFirst) June 10, 2023
The viral video evoked widespread condemnation. Kandhavasal Police despite maintaining that the claim was “exaggerated” registered a case. According to cops' version, a shop built on land belonging to Renugambal temple was leased to Selvamurthy, Prabhakaran’s father-in-law, for Rs 9.5 lakh for a period of five years by Kumar. After Kumar died, his son Ramu wanted the shop back, so he agreed to return the money and an agreement was signed on February 10.
Ramu claimed that Selvamurthy denied taking the money and refused to leave the shop. On June 10, Ramu had gone to the shop to give the money to Selvamurthy’s sons Jeeva and Udhaya, who reportedly attacked Ramu. Jeeva had reportedly slashed Ramu’s head with a knife.
Police claim that after watching the scuffle, onlookers came in support of Ramu, leading to a major fight where items in the shop were thrown out. The police claimed that while Prabhakaran’s wife Keerthi and her mother were in the shop, the crowd did not assault them.
Later in the evening, Prabhakaran’s wife also got herself admitted to the hospital. Though the jawan claimed his wife has suffered grievous injuries, cops refuted the claim. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu BJP Chief K Annamalai spoke to the Army jawan and said that the his party would try to build pressure on authorities to ensure speedy juctice. In a tweet, he said that the party will stand with the jawan’s family in getting justice for her.
