It has been four days since 23-year-old J Elamathi, belonging to the Vanniyar caste which is classified as Other Backward Castes in Tamil Nadu, was allegedly kidnapped in Salem by her kin for marrying a Dalit man. Yet little is known about her whereabouts as of Friday, prompting many on social media to pull up the police and ask #WhereIsElamathi.
Elamathi hails from Gurupanayakampalayam near Bhavani in Erode district. On March 9, she married 25-year-old P Selvan, a Dalit man from Kavunthapadi in the same district. Their self-respect wedding ceremony took place at Kavalandiyur in Kolathur Block in Salem District, officiated by Kavai Eswaran, a member of the Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK).
That night, the couple and Eswaran were abducted by about 50 members who took them to a secluded spot. Eswaran was also allegedly attacked by the group with weapons. While Selvan and Eswaran escaped from the secluded spot and filed a police complaint, Elamathi was not able to escape. The Salem police arrested 18 people, including Elamathi’s father and relatives.
Four days after Elamathi’s alleged abduction, several on social media have begun questioning the action taken by the police in this regard.
I strongly believe that one of the major reasons to kidnap is #mohanG‘s movie. I know these kinda criminal offence occurred even before the movie release. But now this content gives a bit more confidence to commit this crime and justify it in another means.#whereiselamathi pic.twitter.com/pJwRXTfiW2
— Prajan Sivaprakasam (@pragadheeshajan) March 13, 2020
#Where is Elamathi #Save Elamathi #Speak for Elamathi #Stop Caste Killing (Honour Killing )
— Vadhanur sivachandiran (@sivachandiran5) March 13, 2020
#WhereIsElamathi pic.twitter.com/xu9i5HG7HK
— Boopathiraja Ragavan (@Arakkan1879) March 12, 2020
மூன்று நாட்கள் ஆகிவிட்டது பாமக, கொங்கு கட்சி ரவுடிகளால் கடத்திச் செல்லப்பட்ட ஒரு பெண்ணை கண்டுபிடித்து கணவனிடம் ஒப்படைக்க வழியில்லை. இவனுங்களுக்கு நம்ம வரிப்பணத்தில் காக்கி யூணிஃபார்ம்.. அம்மணமாக அலையலாமே. #Where_is_Elamathi#save_Elamathi#இளமதி_எங்கே? pic.twitter.com/ZQqdJGRBrr
— இரும்பொறை (@irumporaii) March 12, 2020
TNM spoke to J Gunasekar, an advocate based out of Tirupur and a trustee of Adhalinal Kaadhal Seiveer (AKS), a registered NGO that is active in counselling and providing shelter for newly married or yet-to-be married inter-caste couples across the state. Their main shelter is in Trichy.
As someone who has helped conduct the marriage of several inter-caste couples, Gunasekar tells TNM that in this case, the police may not be completely in the dark about Elamathi’s whereabouts.
“I don’t believe the police are unaware about her location; they are allowing caste politics to play out. I believe the woman’s relatives are trying to persuade her to break off the marriage,” he alleges, adding, “She may not be in imminent danger yet, but things will not be the same for long.”
Gunasekar also claims that this is the “immediate reaction” to the latest Tamil film Draupathi. "I can tell you for sure that this is the immediate reaction of such a film that is fanning caste pride," he says. While this film, released a couple of weeks ago by Mohan G, was panned by many for its vilification of inter-caste love and for fanning caste hatred against Dalits, it was welcomed by intermediate and dominant castes.
Alleging that Selvan has been unable to file a habeas corpus plea yet due to caste politics, he said, “As an advocate, this would be my advice. Instead of dealing with it legally, caste-based politics is being allowed to play here and this is disappointing to me. They should have filed the habeas corpus by now, asking for Elamathi to be produced before court. Why is that being delayed?”
Meanwhile, the inspector of Kolathur Police Station in Salem, C Chakrapani, tells TNM that while they believe the woman is being held at a relative’s house in Erode, they are yet to find her exact location and rescue her.
“We are tracking the cell tower location of the relative’s phone with whom she was seen last. We will be able to get her in a couple of days,” he says.