Andhra BJP Leader to pay 1 crore in domestic violence case as court orders

Former BJP chief Kanna Lakshminarayana, his wife and son have been ordered by a city court to pay Rs 1 crore compensation to his daughter-in-law, Srilakshmi Keerti, in a domestic violence case.

Further, the Vijayawada First Additional Chief Metropolitan Court ordered the police to provide protection to Keerti.

Keerti and her daughter have also been ordered to take up residence in the former minister's house, and he, his wife Kanna Vijayalakshmi and their son Kanna Nagaraju must pay Rs 50,000 per month in case of failure to comply.

In addition, the magistrate ordered respondents to pay Keerti Rs 50,000 for her daughter's treatment.

According to the court's order passed on Wednesday, if the respondents do not pay the amounts within three months, they will be charged interest at the rate of 12 percent.

In 2013, Kannan Nagaraju had a daughter with Keerti, whom he married on May 10, 2006.

The two in-laws and her husband were later charged with domestic violence. It was alleged that the petitioner's mother-in-law taunted her and wouldn't permit her parents to visit her.

Furthermore, she alleges that Nagaraju engaged in extramarital relations with another woman and harasses her and when confronted about this, he beat her up on March 29, 2015. Since then, he has kept her away from him. His behavior has been erratic since then.

Aside from seeking action against the respondents under the Domestic Violence Act, accommodations and treatment expenses for her and her daughter, Keerti demanded protection from the respondents.

From 1991 to 1994, and from 2004 to 2014, Kanna Lakshminarayana served in the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh. Following the division of the state, he joined the BJP and was elected to the party's Andhra Pradesh state unit in 2018.