• Friday, March 29, 2024

HEADLINE STORY

Bihar village court allows newly-wed woman to leave marriage to study

Representational Image (Photo by NARINDER NANU/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Shubham Ghosh

A VILLAGE court in the eastern Indian state of Bihar has given permission to a newly married woman to divorce her husband and pursue studies to fulfil her career dream. The woman got married a month-and-half ago.

According to a report by Gulf News, the 19-year-old woman named Neha Kumari – a resident of Jahangira village in Bhagalpur district of Bihar – had submitted a petition to the local gram kutchery (village court) last month seeking separation from her husband Sunil Kumar.

In the petition, Neha, who has studied till class 12, said she wanted to study further and get a good job but she was not being allowed to pursue her dream by her in-laws.
“I found myself literally caged at my in-laws’ home. I was allowed neither by my husband nor by in-laws to study further. I felt suffocated in my in-laws’ home,” she claimed.

In July, Neha fled her in-laws’ home and reached Patna, the state capital, to continue her higher studies without informing anybody, not even her parents. As the news of her disappearance spread, her father Gurudev Pandit registered a case with the local police fearing his daughter had got kidnapped.

Neha, meanwhile, approached the local sarpanch (village council official with limited judicial power) to inform that she had fled her in-laws’ home and was not in favour of continuing with her marriage.

The sarpanch, Damodar Choudhary, acted on her complaint and called both the woman’s parents and in-laws to his court on July 28. Neha and Sunil were also present there.

The woman told the court that she wanted to complete her technical education first in order to get a job and pursue higher studies but her request was turned down by both her parents and in-laws.

“I was forced to agree to a wedding by my parents while my in-laws didn’t allow me to study. Now I want to end this marriage for the sake of my career,” Neha told the court. She was married to a local youth Sunil Kumar in June.

Village court tried to save marriage but Neha stood firm

The village court first tried to save the marriage but seeing Neha remaining firm on her stand to divorce her husband, it eventually allowed the separation to go ahead. Neha thanked the court saying it saved her life.

“We tried to convince the girl but in vain. Finally, we granted permission to the woman to seek divorce from her husband. After all, the woman is an adult and free to decide about her way of life,” Choudhary told the media on Sunday (1).

Neha later said though her decision might upset her family and the society for the time being, she did what she found to be right.

“I was unable to pursue my career caught in the tight web of marriage, while I wanted to stand on my feet and didn’t get dependent on anyone,” she told the court. “Neither my parents nor in-laws cared a bit about my feelings,” she added.

The local administration has praised the village court over its verdict, the Gulf News report added.

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