COIMBATORE: More than two years after her husband was brutally murdered by her family members, activist S Kausalya , 23, who has been working against caste reprisals and murders, married ‘Parai’ artist Sakthi, 27, in Coimbatore on Sunday. The ‘self-respect’ marriage was conducted at the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) headquarters. This is the 450th ‘self-respect’ marriage being organized by the TPDK since 2018.Kausalys’s first husband Sankar, a member of the SC community, was murdered by hired goons in a busy market area in Udumalpet in the neighbouring Tirupur district in March 2016.During the marriage ceremony, both Kausalya and Sakthi vowed to continue their fight against caste discrimination and to keep the art of Parai (beating of a traditional drum) alive. Kausalya also teaches Parai at her late husband’s village. On the occasion, they said, “Inter-caste couples and others who desire to marry are always welcome to our home. We will extend all support.”Kausalya added, “So far, I have been working against caste discrimination on my own. From now on, I will have Sakthi by my side. It is only because we work well together, we decided to get married and it not because of any social pressure.”The marriage would be an encouragement to those who want to re-marry, she added. Sakthi said the energy level would drastically increase when like-minded people work together.

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