Allegedly framed by mother on adultery charges for wanting to marry a boy of different caste

Amit Sharma

Lucknow, May 17: A 19-YEAR-OLD girl has been languishing in a protection home here for over three months now after being ‘‘framed’’ by her mother on adultery charges for wanting to marry a boy of a different caste, despite a court order asking the home to facilitate her marriage.

Maya Devi was ‘‘framed’’ for adultery and sent to the state protection home in October by her mother, allegedly in collusion with the local police to prevent her from marrying 22-year-old Rajesh, a washerman by caste who lives in Jawaharnagar area of the city.

The girl alleges that her mother had illicit ties with a person and both had been beating her regularly to force her not to marry Rajesh. ‘‘My mother and the person with whom she has illicit relations will beat me again. She has also forced my elder sister to have sexual relations with that person and wanted the same from me. I do not want to live with her,’’ Maya Devi said in her deposition before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court on February 3.

The court accordingly asked the superintendent of the home to play a ‘‘cooperative’’ role in her marriage with the boy as both are legally adults and free to marry as per law. But its been over three months now since the court order and she is still languishing in the protection home. Rajesh alleges that despite his best efforts, Maya has not been freed because he does not have ‘‘Rs 10,000 asked by then superintendent for arranging his wedding’’.

He says has written to all concerned, including the Human Rights Commission, but has not got any reprieve so far. ‘‘I am ready to marry her but she is not being freed from the home because they want money,’’ Rajesh told The Indian Express.

Despite facing trouble for nearly three years, when the affair between the two started, Rajesh’s family is ready to accept Maya as the bride. ‘‘We don’t have any objection despite the fact she has been framed for adultery because we know it’s fake,’’ says Rajesh’s father Ashok Kumar.

Protection home officials maintain the girls are freed by the court and they only follow the orders. ‘‘We cannot detain any inmate if the court has directed us, but in Maya’s case the court has also directed that she be freed after medical examination which is awaited,’’ says Anjali Saxena, deputy superintendent of the home, despite the fact that a medical examination is only a matter of hours.

Maya’s mother Chandrawati Devi is still dead set against her marriage to Rajesh. ‘‘The boy belongs to other caste and we cannot marry her in that family. Even I want my daughter to come home,’’ she says.