The estranged wife of a Kerala minister Monday accused Chief Minister Oommen Chandy of "cheating" her by not accepting her complaint of domestic violence by her husband who is now moving to divorce her. Chandy dismissed the charge.
Hours after state Forest Minister K B Ganesh Kumar filed for divorce, alleging harassment including physical torture, by his doctor wife Yamini Thankachy, Yamini said she had approached the chief minister and was assured he would intervene to solve the matter amicably.
"I had a complaint with me but the CM did not accept it and told me that he will intervene and bring an amicable settlement. The last date according to the agreement was yesterday (Sunday) and I spoke to the CM yesterday (Sunday) also but today (Monday) I hear that the minister has filed a divorce petition. I was cheated by the CM," said a weeping Thankachi, clutching the hand of her eldest son.
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Chief Minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy. File Pic/ AFP
"I have been facing the brutal physical assault against me by the minister for the past 16 years and everyone in his family (including his father and former minister R Balakrishna Pillai) is well aware of my sufferings. I placed a lot of hope on the CM but he too cheated me," she added.
Addressing reporters later, Ganesh Kumar, who had rushed to meet Chandy, said that he will not resign in the wake of the allegations levelled by his wife.
"This is a clear conspiracy and I have told the chief minister that only a proper inquiry will reveal the truth. I have not inflicted any injury on my wife, instead it was she who has attacked me not once but a few times," he claimed.
He also charged her with violating an agreement, alleging she wanted Rs 75 lakh to be deposited in her name but he refused and instead proposed to deposit in their children's name.
Reacting to the allegations, Chandy said that it was true that she met him and he had assured her of intervention to solve the dispute.
"She had not given me any written complaint and I did my best to intervene to solve their issues and in the first round, I succeeded. The agreement was made out but it failed in the implementation part. I feel she is being prompted by some external forces," he said.
Meanwhile, the opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) acused Chandy of misleading the assembly and demanded he quit.
"If a minister's wife is not able to get her issues sorted out in a domestic violence case and Chandy totally hid this from the assembly when he made a statement last month. He has no other go but to quit," former home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told reporters.
Leader of Opposition V S Achuthanandan also jumped into the fray and demanded the resignation of Chandy for misleading the house on the issue of domestic violence in the case of the minister and his wife.
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