No intention to defame Sekar Babu or Stalin; just need protection: TN minister’s daughter

The daughter of a cabinet minister in the Tamil Nadu government has appealed to Chief Minister MK Stalin to protect her, her husband and in-laws from her father.

Jayakalyani, the daughter of Tamil Nadu State Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister PK Sekar Babu, has alleged that her father, who was against her marriage with Sathish Kumar, a businessman, is trying to separate them and that there is a threat to her and her husband’s life.

The couple, who had been in a relationship for the past few years, recently left home and got married in Karnataka. Earlier, Jayakalyani, a doctor by profession had sought the protection of the Bengaluru City police commissioner, fearing for her and her husband’s life.

Speaking to The Federal on Wednesday (March 9), Jayakalyani said, “I do not intend to defame my father (Sekar Babu) and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. All I want is legal protection for myself, my husband and my husband’s family members. We do not know whether the chief minister knows all that my father is doing. I just want to let the chief minister know that we are being threatened by my father and his aides.”

Six-month struggle

In September 2021, the couple first left their house to get married. However, they were caught by the police and were separated. By that time, Sathish was arrested by the Tamil Nadu Police in connection with an old case filed against him. On March 4, 2022, the couple again left their houses with the knowledge of their parents and left for Bengaluru in Karnataka to get married.

In Bengaluru, the couple got married with the help of Madhugiri Modi, Karnataka president of Hindu Samrat Dharmsene. On March 7, with the help of Bharath Shetty, a local activist, they first filed a complaint with the Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant seeking protection from Sekar Babu.

“Now, even in Bengaluru, they are not letting us to live peacefully. My father with the help of police and other influential people is doing everything he could do to separate us and put my husband in trouble by foisting cases against him,” Jayakalyani said.

Talking about the cases filed against her husband, Jayakalyani said that the only original case against her husband was that filed in 2015 for damaging an AIADMK poster.

“After the first case, another case was filed by my husband’s ex-girlfriend, which was basically a cheating case and she wanted to withdraw it long ago. But, my father pestered the woman and their family members to file a rape case against my husband. These (her complaints against her father) are not baseless allegations. The girl herself spoke to us about my father’s pressure and the police pressure on her and we have the recordings too,” she claimed.

She also alleged that her father has been threatening the family members of Sathish and that they could not be traced. “Since my father and others could not reach us, they are threatening and beating Sathish’s friends. Also, Sathish’s mother and other relatives including his uncle and aunt are untraceable. We couldn’t reach them at all,” she said.

On the lookout

Seeking protection from the chief minister, Jayakalyani said that Satish’s friends informed them that her father and his aides were searching for the couple.

“Since we did not have any mobile phones, we did not get any direct threats from them. We were informed by Sathish’s friends that my father and his men are looking for us and that they told Sathish’s friends that they would kill us if they find us,” Jayakalyani said.

She claimed that her father is against their relationship only because of the police cases against Sathish. “But, the case filed against Sathish can be legally fought. We are adults and we have the right to live. My father is not even letting that happen. If we approach any lawyers to handle the case against Sathish, his men go and threaten them as well,” she said.

Since Tamil Nadu police have got an arrest warrant against Sathish as he failed to appear before the court in connection with one of the cases filed against him on Wednesday, Jayakalyani again filed a petition with the Bengaluru commissioner seeking protection from her father.

When asked about the matter, PK Sekar Babu refused to comment on the allegations and asked this reporter not to encourage “such activities”.

“Everybody will know the pain only when it happens to them. Don’t encourage such things. That’s all I can say and I don’t want to say anything else,” he said.