Feature Image Credits: The Hindu Tamil
A woman tried to set herself on fire in front of the Ramanathapuram District Collector Office demanding action against few people in her village for forcing her and her family to convert to Christianity.
Valarmathi (53) is the wife of late Soundararajan and hails from the Karuppa Kudumban Pacheri village near RS Mangalam in Ramanathapuram district.
She has alleged that that converted Christians in her village are forcing and threatening her to embrace Christianity for years.
Reportedly, her family is the only family belonging to the Hindu Devendra Kula Vellalar community. Others in her village have converted to Christianity, she says.
Speaking to reporters outside the Collectorate, Valarmathi said that her family’s resistance to convert has invited the wrath of those who have converted. She alleged that they are being subjected to frequent harassment including physical harm by the Christian converts. She said that her family is also being slapped with false cases.
Women & her family, who refused to convert to Christianity by force, decided to set themselves on fire as her complaints fell on deaf ears.
State of affairs in TN! Forced conversion law is the need of the hour. pic.twitter.com/JGa899RUgp
— Krishna Kumar Murugan (@ikkmurugan) May 16, 2022
“Due to this problem my son Satheeskumar (31) is staying in his wife’s hometown Peravoor and is working as a mason. On the May 6th, when my son was finishing his work at the Peravur intersection, he was severely beaten by some people including Thomas, Vinod, Vijith, Praveen and Pradeep from Karuppa Kudumban Cheri.”, she said.
Satheeskumar is reportedly being treated at the Ramanathapuram Government Hospital and his wife is also said to be bed-ridden at home.
Valarmathi also said that though she has been reporting the matter to the police, they haven’t taken strict action against the culprits.
The Kenikarai police registered a case in this regard but no one has been arrested yet, as per a report by The Hindu Tamil.
“Since the police is not taking proper action on my complaint, I tried to commit suicide out of frustration.”, she said.
She said that strict action should be taken against those who force and harass people to convert.
Forced religious conversion in Tamil Nadu
There have been multiple instances of forced conversion in Tamil Nadu in the recent months.
Lavanya, who was studying in class 12 at Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School in Michaelpatti near Thanjavur, committed suicide by drinking pesticide after she was allegedly tortured to convert to Christianity by the school. Lavanya’s parents alleged that there was an attempt to forcefully convert their child and become a nun which the child had rejected and hence was subject to torture.
(With inputs from The Hindu Tamil)
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