High drama unfolded outside the Madurai Central Prison when a marriage between a rape victim and the accused, who came out on bail, scheduled to be held on Tuesday late evening could not happen as the police “advised” them to do the ceremony at some temple in their village. The advocate who had mediated between the two families had arranged for the marriage on the New Jail Road.
Several media persons had assembled outside the jail to cover the event since 5.30 p.m. However, as more number of journalists gathered, the police came to know about the “unusual” marriage outside the jail.
The advocate said that after he negotiated with both the families and the accused in the jail, the complainant girl, who was now pregnant, gave a no-objection certificate for the bail petition moved for the accused.
The Principal District Sessions Judge had granted the bail on Monday following which the accused was slated to be let off on Tuesday evening. “If the marriage happened, the complainant can withdraw the case and the accused could be set free,” the advocate said.
However, when the youth came out, the police asked the family members “not to belittle the ceremony of marriage” and conduct it properly at the village. The relatives of the accused took the boy on a motorbike and the girl and her family members followed them in an SUV with the promise that the marriage would be held at their village near Alanganallur.
The lights of the video cameras and flash of cameras outside the jail attracted the attention of passers-by.
