Popular singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi announced at a press meet on Sunday that she was calling off her upcoming wedding with Bahrain-based Santosh. The couple got engaged on December 14 last year a few weeks after they met on a matrimonial site.

 

Speaking to The News Minute, Vijayalakshmi, who was born visually impaired, says, "Yes, I called off the wedding. He'd initially said that he would stay here with us and that he would help me reach greater heights in music and so on. But all that changed. He also threatened me...saying he won't allow my relatives to visit, that I'd have to move with him etc."

 

Vijayalakshmi calls music a "god given gift" and says that it was her talent that helped her reach where she is now. 

 

"I did not want to give all this up," she says. "That's why I decided to say no."

 

Speaking about how the two of them met, Vijayalakshmi said, "The match happened through Bharath Matrimony. He doesn't have parents and had agreed to stay here. But his behaviour towards me changed. He started saying I'm not someone without hands or legs but someone who cannot see and that I should speak acknowledging this."

 

Vijayalakshmi also says that she is taking medicines for her vision but that Santosh would pass pessimistic comments about the treatment, as if hinting that he'd like to her to stay visually impaired forever.

 

"I got the sense that I wouldn't be happy with him. And then I'd have to file for divorce. So, I decided to put an end to it now itself," asserts Vijayalakshmi.

 

She adds that Santosh had told her that it would be better if she went for a job as a music teacher or found a government job that would give her a pension.

 

"He didn't explicitly tell me that I shouldn't sing for films but from his behaviour, I thought it's possible that he starts making such demands after we got married," she explains. 

 

Vijayalakshmi says that her family stood by her decision: "I used to get upset by his words. I used to cry, not eat...my parents told me that there was no need for me to get into this if I was so unhappy. We'd helped his family out by giving some money to repair their house and so on, but all that didn't matter."

 

Vijayalakshmi is relieved that it's all over now: "I sing in four languages - Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada. I have more releases coming up and I'm looking forward to singing many more songs."