Hyderabad, Oct. 27: After Amisha Patel and Meera Jasmine, it?s now an Andhra Pradesh girl.

Prominent Telugu television anchor Udayabhanu today accused her mother and 16 maternal relatives of harassment.

In her complaint before additional police commissioner A.K. Khan, the actor and anchor ? who on Monday married long-time friend Vijay Kumar ? sought protection from her relatives who lived with her till the other day.

In a separate complaint with the police, her mother Aruna claimed that Udayabhanu was already married. ?Our only plea is that she should live with her husband, Eshan, a software engineer, whom she wed in 1999,? she said.

Udayabhanu?s accusations came barely weeks after National Award-winning actor Jasmine walked out on her family, accusing them of robbing her of all her earnings.

Earlier this year, Amisha slapped a legal notice on her father for Rs 12 crore. The notice charged him with mismanagement of her property, including money and assets.

The Telugu actor?s complaint is the third instance of parental abuse and mental torture in the state?s celluloid history. Raasi and Sridevi, too, had allegedly made such complaints to the police, though Sridevi withdrew hers later.

Observers said the Udayabhanu case highlights the social background of woman artistes from middle class families, most of which are dependent on their earnings and oppose their marriage. There are instances of heroines like Savitri and Krishnaveni who remained single.

Udayabhanu, who was still dressed in her parrot green and turquoise wedding sari, her right forearm covered in bangles, told reporters ?my mother gave me a new title yesterday that I was a bitch?.

The 24-year-old, known for her programmes Once More and Dum dum diga diga, said she had left everything to her mother and relatives. ?I came away in my casuals. Even the wedding sari and jewellery were bought by my hubby,? the 5-foot-6-inch-tall actor said.

Commenting on her first marriage, she said her mother forced her into it. ?She had married a Muslim after my father?s death and both drove me towards a marriage I hated.? In 2002, she tried to commit suicide after three years of the marriage. The actor said she got a divorce from her first husband in 2003.

Kumar, an MBA student whose father runs a dispensary in Vijayawada, said: ?My family has agreed to accept Udayabhanu.?

Udayabhanu?s complaint came on a day Andhra earned the dubious honour of the most dowry cases last year. According to the National Bureau of Crime, of the 6,481 cases registered in 2003, Andhra topped the chart with 1,694.