Kuriyedath Thathri was a namboodiri Brahmin woman who lived in 1905 in Kochi place in Kerala .Who, instead of staying
in purdah and worshipping her gods, became a prostitute.But Why she did it has always been a great mystery in Kerala :
After her birth, an astrologer is said to have told her father that
Thatri's birth was “destined to bring calamity and destroy the family’s
honour
Kuriyedath Thathri was married at a young age of 11 years to a 60 year's old Namboothiri , Raman . Raman had many wives and was habitual of bringing prostitutes to home . In an altercation over Raman's bringing prostitutes to home , she left the home . She started working as a prostitute ,hiding her identity and securing her clients through her maid .Among her clients there were many influential people of the society too . One day , a client came and after completing what he came for ,asked the Kuriyedath Thathri to come with him to house . When she lifted her veil , the person was shocked as he was his husband , Raman .
Raman on seeing his wife there , was enraged and decided to trial her for adultery in Smarthavicharam .
Smarthavicharam - Which was a ritual trial practice for adultery among Nambudiri Brahmins in which the accused was tried in front of the society including influential priests and kings and then if found guilty were excommunicated from the caste and were considered dead .
When Raman raised this issue in Namboothiri meeting , a trial was held in which she was questioned about her adultery and the question type ranged from case related personal details and also some juicy questions put forward to just make it more interesting . As the case proceeded , Kuriyedath Thathri was questioned and she gave all the answers to questions put to her along with proofs of when and where the act happened and also the details of her clients like birth marks on genitals .
During the trial she asked the king to why not punish those who were also a participant in this act . Is she the only accused in this act ? , King accepted her request and the she started revealing name by name of the co participator in the sexual act . With each name revealed by her , the meeting became tensed and there was no section of the society whose name didn't surfaced up in her revelation .
At last , she brandished a ring to king and asked him , do u remember it ? The king , recognized his ring and asked to meeting to be discontinued .
After this incident there were many changes in the namboothiri caste internal rules and also in the whole society as such related to women social emancipation and bodily autonomy .
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