Life turned a full circle for Kausalya on Sunday as she got married with 27-year-old Sakthi at the Coimbatore office of the Thanthai Periyar Dravida Kazhakam (TPDK) , an outfit of Tamil chauvinists working for self-respect marriages and caste-less society.
Kausalya hogged the national limelight in March 2016 when Shankar, a Dalit youth , whom she had married against the wishes of her parents was murdered in broad day light at Udumalpet. The killers were allegedly hired by her parents who belonged to the powerful Thevar community. A sessions court in Tirupur had sentenced her father Chinnasamy and five others to death for the “honour killing” on December 12, 2017.
Kausalya, had been seriously injured when she tried to save Shankar from the murderers. Since her discharge from the hospital, Kausalya had joined the social movement to spread message against honour killings and caste based violence.
During her social work, she met Sakthi, who was a drum artist working with TPDK for the same causes and the duo decided to tie the nuptial knots. Sakthi is a visual communication science graduate . Kausalya has launched a movement in memory of Shankar, her slain husband and is actively helping children belonging to the depressed classes to get educated. She herself was an engineering college student when she fell in love with Shankar. The murder of Shankar spoiled her engineering dreams as she had to look after her on-laws who were poor.
The marriage was solemnised by Dravida Kazhagam leaders and the couple read out a vow in typical self respect style. “We, Kowsalya and Sakthi, agree in front of you all, that we are life partners.” The newly wedded couple also performed a drum recital for their near and dear ones who were present at the wedding. The DK leaders who were present during the ceremony said that it was a self-respect marriage. A self-respect marriage is one which is not performed under the patronage of Brahmin priests.
In a rare gesture, while vowing to stand together to annihilate caste and liberate women, Kowsalya and Sakthi promised to keep their house open for lovers, who face opposition from anybody. “We will fight together for the creation of a special act against caste killing. All lovers are welcome to our house and we will help them in whatever way we can. We also promise that the doors of our house will always be open for lovers,” read their vow.