Young woman from Madhya Pradesh moves Madras High Court seeking police protection

The 23-year-old said she had escaped from her home and travelled to Tamil Nadu because her stepmother and other relatives, believers of black magic, had planned to kill her as part of a human sacrifice ritual

A 23-year-old woman from Madhya Pradesh has filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court seeking a direction to the Director General of Police (Tamil Nadu) and the Greater Chennai Commissioner of Police to provide protection to her. She claimed to have escaped to Tamil Nadu because her stepmother was planning to use her in a human sacrifice.

In an affidavit filed through her counsel, S. Doraisamy and V. Elangovan, the petitioner said she was born in Uttar Pradesh and later migrated to Madhya Pradesh along with her family. Her father served in the Agriculture Department and retired in 2017. She studied at the Government Maharani Laskshmibai Girls’ College in Bhopal. Stating that she was a Master’s degree holder in nutrition and dietetics, the petitioner said, that she was now pursuing a diploma in Yoga. On the compulsion of her family members, she also claimed to have joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) but said that she subsequently resigned after being a member for some time.

Accusing her stepmother and other family members of being firm believers of black magic, the petitioner alleged that she had overheard a conversation where they had planned to kill her as part of their plan to perform a human sacrifice. She also claimed to have heard that her younger brother met the same fate when he was 10 years old.

Further, fearing that the law enforcement authorities in Madhya Pradesh might not be able to save her due to the family’s political connections, the petitioner said that she came to Tamil Nadu with the assistance of a Tamil student pursuing a law course in Bhopal. She boarded a train at 3 a.m. on February 16 and reached Chennai on February 17.

A local contact here, whose name she did not want to reveal to safeguard him from any harm, had taken her to the residence of a Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam office-bearer where she had taken refuge at present. “I state that my life is not safe. I cannot return to my native place or anywhere in North India where there is no security for my life,” her affidavit read.