A 24-year old man climbed atop a 160-foot tall BSNL tower in Chettipalayam on the outskirts of Coimbatore and has been sitting there since 9 AM today, demanding that he be reunited with his estranged wife. His wife was taken away by her parents a few days ago.

Arun Kumar runs an old plastic recycling shop in Sulur. He fell in love with a girl from Palladam and had married her six months ago. Since they belonged to different castes, her parents lodged a complaint with police, who took her away forcibly and handed her over to her parents, Arun Kumar said.

He claims that he had submitted petitions to the district collector and the Superintendent of Police, but there was no response from them. To draw attention to his case, he says that he climbed the cellphone tower.

Stocked with food packets, Arun Kumar is sitting at the 160th feet of the tower and is refusing to climb down despite requests from the police and authorities. He demands that his wife be brought back to him.