‘Not beautiful enough’: an ugly ground for divorce, say activists

Within two months of their wedding, they started quarrelling over petty matters and Zohra was forced to return to her parents. She had been staying with her parents ever since. At the Lok Adalat, Sajed said he wanted a divorce.

[related-post]

Zohra was aghast when he cited the ground for divorce. She told the court that if her husband did not wish to live with her, there was no point in continuing with marriage.

Sociologists and advocates said divorce on such a ground is “unfortunate”. “The families tried to reconcile them with each other. The man did not wish to stay with his wife. Professional counsellors, too, failed to convince him. He kept saying they did not get along well,” said advocate Pritesh Deshpande who represented Zohra.

The case was filed in January 2015. “In court, Sajed told us he did not like his wife because of her looks. He said he wanted a beautiful wife and was not happy with Zohra who wasn’t ‘beautiful enough’. He said he had married her due pressure from his parents. Zohra told the Lok Adalat panel headed by Vidya Pelapkar that as her husband was unhappy with her she too did not wish to stay with him and demanded that she be paid alimony,” said Deshpande.

Anjum Inmadar, a city-based activist, said, “The young man’s behaviour is unacceptable… if he had reservations, he should have expressed it before the marriage. Times have changed. Parents need to take the bride and groom into confidence before tying the knot,” said Inamdar.

Advocate Sushil Mancharkar said, “We should learn to value our daughters and should not rush them into marriage.”