Mary was an ordinary girl in a keralite household. She was the youngest among the siblings. After the demise of her father P.V. Issac in 1960, she filed a case against her brother George. She sued her brother to gain equal access to the inheritance left to them. The case was considered a landmark case for the reason it fought for equal property rights for Syrian Christian women.
In the supreme court Justice P.N. Bhagwati & Justice R.S. Pathak heard the case & delivered the judgement in 1986. Judgement was in favour of Roy but opened floodgates for opposition from multiple groups. Roy was represented by advocate Indira Jaising, a women’s activist.
Though she won the case, Roy did not get access to the property because a district court ruled that division of the property was not possible. In 1994, she approached the Kerala High court to get the lower court’s judgement overruled. She was successful.
After her mother’s death in 2000, she approached the Kottayam Sub-court for the final decree. The case continued for 8 years after which she filed the execution petition in 2009. She finally received the property in 2010. Her share of the property was Rs 2 crores, an amount that she left to charity.
Roy died at her home in the suburb of Kottayam from age -related ailments on 1 Sept. 2022 at the age of 89.
Roy had two daughters one of whom was the Booker Prize winner author Arundhati Roy. ‘The God of small things’ has a character Ammu, which was based on her mother, Mary. She was never involved with a man from the lower caste. Arundhati declared independence from her mother & they had a period of strained relationship. But she was very proud of her daughter winning the Booker Prize.
Salute to her undying spirit!
Asian Entertainment 