Second Husband Turns Defence Witness For First, Woman Loses 17-Year Old Domestic Violence Case

In an unexpected turns of events in a 17-year-old domestic violence case, a Mumbai magistrate court dismissed a woman’s petition for compensation after her current husband testified as a witness for her ex-spouse.

As per media reports, the woman filed a domestic violence case against her first husband in 2009 in which the woman alleged years of physical, emotional and economic abuse by him. She had claimed that she was tortured, forced out of her matrimonial home and denied financial support.

The woman told the court that she married her first husband in 2005 through an arranged marriage, but later discovered that he was already married. She alleged that both her husband and his first wife abused her. In December 2009, the court had directed the man to pay her interim maintenance of Rs 3,200 per month.

As the trial began in the magistrate’s court, the woman presented her sister as the witness, who claimed that the former was traumatised by the marriage.

Meanwhile, the estranged husband, who opposed the plea, told the court that the two had a divorce in 2008 and the woman left his house of her own will. Hence, the question of negligence does not stand. In addition to this, he claimed that after their divorce, the woman got married for the second time.

To establish his claim, he produced nikahnama of her second marriage, testimony from the imam who solemnised it, a handwriting and fingerprint expert, and most notably, the woman’s current husband.

The proceedings took a decisive turn when the second husband confirmed their marriage in court. Based on this evidence, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate B N Chikne ruled that the woman was not entitled to maintenance from her former husband.

“The applicant has performed a second marriage after divorce from the respondent. Therefore, she is not entitled to get maintenance from respondent No. 1,” the magistrate observed.

The court held that the existence of a second marriage extinguished the woman’s right to seek further monetary relief or protection from her ex-husband, leading to the dismissal of her application.