They are strongly defending their son, much like any other parent would do. However, they are not too surprised at the turn of events and claim that they saw it coming.
Ayodhya Prasad and Premlata, parents of Anil Verma (the Indian diplomat accused of wife-beating), claim that the alleged victim and their daughter-in-law Paromita could never adjust into their family.
“In fact, she never even tried. When Anil told us that he wanted to marry Paromita, after his first marriage fell apart in 2003, we asked him to bring her home in Varanasi but she refused. Even when we went to meet her in Howrah some years ago, she somehow made it known to us that she was not happy meeting us. Thereafter, we tried to convince Anil not to marry this girl but he went ahead with his plans. As a protest, we did not participate in their wedding celebrations,” said Mr Prasad, a retired railway officer who now lives in Sarkaripura locality in Varanasi.
According to Mr Verma’s parents, their son maintained a distance with them after he married Paromita. “The last we met him was in 2008 when he came here. Both of us avoided even mentioning Paromita during his visit and neither did he talk about her,” said the mother.
However, their parents swear that their son is not prone to violence and cannot accept the fact that he has been accused of domestic violence.
“There is obviously something more to it than meets the eye,” the father said.
Interestingly, the parents do not know much about Paromita’s background.
”Anil told us that she was a divorcee from Bangladesh and had a son from her first marriage. She also has a son from Anil,” said the mother adding that they have no communication with Paromita’s family either.
Mr Verma is the eldest of five siblings and was allotted the West Bengal cadre after he qualified for IAS in 1989. Mr Verma had married a fellow officer in 1995 but the couple separated with mutual consent in 2003 after which he married Paromita. Mr Verma has a son from his first marriage too.