Family members among five arrested for abducting newly married woman in Erode

Five persons were arrested in Perundurai on Wednesday (December 10, 2025) night on charges of abducting a woman who recently married her boyfriend, who belongs to a different community.

According to the police, Mahalaxmi of Anthiyur had been in a relationship with Sethuraj, 25, of Ennamangalam, employed at a private company in Perundurai SIPCOT, for the past few years. As the couple belonged to different communities, their families opposed the relationship.

Defying opposition, the couple left their homes on December 5 and got married in the presence of their friends. They later sought protection at the All Women Police Station in Erode. While Sethuraj’s family accepted the marriage, Mahalaxmi’s family refused to do so. The couple then moved to a rented house in Perundurai.

On December 9, Mahalaxmi’s sister Kausalya contacted her and asked her to come to the Perundurai bus stand. When the couple arrived, Kausalya and her relatives spoke to them and later had food with them at a nearby restaurant. Moments later, they allegedly forced Mahalaxmi into a car and abducted her.

Sethuraj lodged a complaint at the Perundurai police station. During the investigation, the police traced Mahalaxmi to a house in Annai Indira Nagar in Sathyamangalam belonging to one Lokeshwaran. She was rescued and reunited with her husband.

The police arrested five persons, Kausalya, 25, her husband Santosh, 26, Sadhik, 27, of Kotagiri, Lokeshwaran, 21, of Sathyamangalam, and Dhanapal, 45, of Tiruppur district. All five were produced before a court and lodged in prison.