In a remarkable legal twist, a Mumbai court has dismissed a nearly 17-year-old domestic violence case after the woman's present husband took the stand to testify in favour of her former spouse. The Borivli court ruled that the woman, having entered a second marriage, was no longer entitled to financial maintenance from her first husband.
The Case and Its Unusual Turn
The legal battle began in 2009 when the woman filed a case alleging years of sustained torture by her first husband. She claimed she was subjected to physical, emotional, and economic abuse after discovering he was already married. She also accused his first wife of participating in the harassment. The woman sought protection and monetary relief, stating she had been forced out of her marital home.
Initially, the court had directed the first husband to pay an interim monthly maintenance of Rs 3,200 in December 2009, pending the final disposal of the case. The woman's sister supported her allegations as a witness.
Evidence That Changed the Trajectory
The defence, however, presented compelling evidence to counter the claim. The ex-husband produced:
- An imam who had officiated the woman's second marriage.
- A handwriting and fingerprint expert to verify the signatures on the second marriage document (nikahnama).
- The most crucial witness: the woman's current husband.
The testimony of the current husband, confirming the marital union, proved decisive. This directly challenged the woman's status as a dependent of her former spouse.
The Court's Final Ruling
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate B N Chikne presided over the case. The judgment hinged on the proof that the applicant had contracted a second marriage while her original maintenance claim was still active.
"As such, in such facts and circumstances and the evidence on record, it appears to me that it is proved from the evidence and documents produced on record, after divorce from the respondent No. 1 (ex-husband), the applicant (woman) performed a second marriage. Therefore, she is not entitled to get maintenance from respondent No. 1," the magistrate stated.
The court concluded that the existence of this second marriage, confirmed by the man who entered into it, extinguished the woman's legal right to seek further maintenance or protection from her first husband. The long-standing case, initiated in 2009, was thus brought to a close.
