The public spat between actor Vijayakumar and his daughter Arthana Binu is getting murkier, with the latter coming up with fresh allegations against her father. Arthana claims that he was an irresponsible father and that they have never lived off him or received his protection. She added that she lived with him till she was five years old. Eventually, it was her mother’s father who took them to his house when they were in dire straits. The actor had recently shared a video that showed Vijayakumar trespassing into their house. She also said the money Vijayakumar sent were installments the court had ordered to pay as alimony and that he has never given them any financial help. She shared the required documents as proof.
“I would like to say that my family and I never received my biological father’s wealth, fame, or emotional support. My mother had to struggle to take care of me and my sister. She stitched clothes, operated a daycare and beauty parlour to make money. For that very reason, I am proud to be known as Binu’s daughter than be called Mr Vijayakumar’s child. I had put up a post on Instagram as we couldn’t even get police protection. I was hoping that cops would come forward after seeing the post,” she said.
According to her, the police did not even bother to contact her when her father trespassed into their house. “The police did not come, though we had the court protection order. It is scary that such incidents are occurring at a time when there are many cases against him. Two special branch officers had come to our house after seeing my Instagram post. When I said that a complaint should be registered against Mr Vijayakumar, two officials from Srikaryam police station finally came and took our statements. Now I would like to share with you the kind of horrors I have been subjected to in the last few years,” she said.
“Ever since I can remember I have been living at my mother’s parents’ home. I have only lived with my father in his Kochi flat when I was in nursery (LKG-UKG). Even then he would stay with us occasionally. In case of any help, we always had to rely on our neighbours. I still remember how I begged my father for help as my mother had suicidal tendencies and he remained unmoved. All I remember was this man creating a ruckus at my mother’s workplace.
We had to shift to our grandparent’s home as we didn’t have money to buy food or pay rent. Later, that house was only used when my father came to Thiruvananthapuram for work. My family has never stopped me or my sister from meeting him. Once he got angry at my mother saying he did not want a woman who has a job and took my sister away. When too many such incidents happened, my mom approached the family court to file for divorce. In 2017, he trespassed into our house and physically harmed and threatened us. When the cops were passive, he even slapped me in front of them. I have always wanted to act in films. It has always been my dream. If you check my interviews, you might have noticed that I never mention my father’s name in any of them,” she added.
Arthana added that she built her career through anchoring, modelling, and acting in short films. “I presented the ‘On Screen’ programme on Television when I was in Class 11. I was picked through auditions and not on the basis of my father’s name. You know what’s sad? When he heard that I was selected, he made sure I was removed from the programme. When I was anchoring a programme called 'Smart Show' on another channel, he send a legal notice against that channel and behaved rudely with them. But thankfully, those in the channel supported me.
“Usually when there is a shoot in Ernakulam, I try to study on location. After the shoot, I would take the early morning train to Thiruvananthapuram and attend college (Mar Ivanios College). My goal in life was always to be financially independent and buy a house. I consider my grandfather as my father. I can never forget the kindness he showed to me and my family. To think that Mr Vijayakumar even verbally abused and attacked that kind man! For that very reason, I can never ever see him as my father as long as I live,” she maintained.
She also questioned his derision for the acting profession. “The kind of people I saw in cinema were vastly different from his acquaintances. I immensely respect cinema as a profession. If he has so much derision for this profession, why did he continue to be in cinema for this long? Does he think only one gender can enable prostitution or sex? Sexual abuse can happen to anyone in any profession, even at home. You don’t need to be in cinema to experience it. I have the ability to say no and stand up for myself during such situations. I don’t need the help of a father who was never there when we needed him but pretended to care for us to show other people,” she said.
“The same media had previously carried news about the cases against him and made a hue and cry about it. Because I had such an abusive and aggressive parent, I remember always being ignored and mocked at. When the court granted divorce in 2020, we thought we will be able to live in peace. But then Mr Vijayakumar’s nasty comments against me at a function, followed by the fake news circulated by online media and the cyber-attacks against my family, really damaged me mentally and emotionally.
“This attack came at a time when I was still grieving my grandfather’s death. At that time my family had to bear the brunt of his cruelty because I had started acting in films. All this affected my confidence and focus on life. To escape from this scenario, I decided to shift to Canada to take a course in social service work. I also started working part-time. I don’t know if the job I am doing will be considered sleazy by Mr Vijayakumar. Because my job entails me to take care of the disabled.
“I heard during that time Mr Vijayakumar stormed into our house and wanted to know where they had sold me. I remember calling him and assuring him that I am fine and not to trouble my family, but then he disconnected the call. Later he ignored my calls and filed a fake missing complaint against me at the Srikaryam Police Station. Finally, I had to call the police station and explain my situation as well as register a complaint at the NRI cell.
“If I have said anything against my father, those are all based on my bitter experiences. The claims he has made in his recent interviews are baseless. The money he is claiming to have deposited is in reality the maintenance granted to us by the court in 2018 and the share of Rs 10 lakhs and 100 sovereign he needs to pay my mother. I can assure you that, except for paying some of this back occasionally, Mr Vijayakumar has not spent a single penny on me or my family since I came of age,” she claimed.
According to her, last year around the same time, Vijayakumar had visited her mother and told her that all the other cases in his name were over and that only the domestic violence protection order as well as the case filed to return her money and gold were pending in courts. “When he kept on demanding (as threats and pleas) that she withdraw the case, my exasperated mother said she would withdraw all the complaints if he paid back at least half the money and promised not to harass our family. In order to implement this, he promised to give her Rs 5 lakh in December 2022. When the promised amount wasn’t sent even after two months, she called and inquired. He said the amount cannot be paid all at once and that it would be paid in installments. In 2020, the court granted divorce to my mother, but a month ago, Mr Vijayakumar approached the court against this verdict.
Another allegation is that I acted in a film called ‘Anveshippin Kandethum’ which included some of his enemies. But then the crew behaved very professionally with me. And apparently, he claims to have enemies outside the cinema field as well. During the divorce mediation in court, I mentioned that I was thinking of going to Bangalore or Chennai for further studies. But he refused saying that he had enemies in these places. He insisted that I should join a college and take a diploma course of his choice. He also claimed in the media that he got no reply when he asked if my mother had received Rs400,00. That’s false as my mother did send back a thank you note.
His claim that my sister Mekhal opened the gate for my father to enter on the 4th of July (that triggered the current spate of issues) is absolutely false. If that is the case, why did he jump over the wall while leaving? This isn’t the first time he is doing this. Earlier I had uploaded a video in which he did a similar thing. It is difficult to accept someone who ignored our existence for the most part of our lives and suddenly wants to come back when we turned adults. “You live life the way you want and allow us to live our life,” says Arthana.
Arthana had shared a video of Vijaykumar breaking into the house on July 6, 2021. She says that Vijayakumar has harassed them many times by jumping over the wall and entering the house. Arthana has also shared the court order granting divorce to Vijayakumar's wife Binu Daniel on June 24, 2020, and the order to pay his wife and children alimony of Rs 5000 per month. Arthana also shared a copy of a thank you message sent by Binu after receiving the money. She has also attached a copy of the complaints filed by Arthana and her mother with the police about Vijayakumar trespassing into their house at various times in the past few years.
Arthana Binu asserts that allegations made by Vijayakumar against her, and her family are false and that they have enough evidence against him.