Not happily ever after

Ranchi, May 16: Cases of bigamy and extra-marital relationships are pouring in at the city-based state women’s commission and family counselling centre in Morabadi.

Generally, in most of these cases, the husband is into a relationship with another woman. If one goes by the figures provided by family counselling centres and the state women’s commission, over 300 cases have been registered recently.

Besides, the state women’s commission has received 600 cases of domestic violence but the maximum cases are related to bigamy. The centre and commission receives over 50 cases every month from women in the age group of 20-35 years.

While speaking to The Telegraph, Lakshmi Singh, the chairperson of the state women’s commission, said there has been an unprecedented rise in bigamy cases apart from domestic violence. But it is surprising that bigamy has also gone up,” Singh added.

The chairperson said bigamy is on the rise because the dowry brought by the first wife is not enough. “So the husband tries to take another chance at marriage,” the chairperson added.

While one of the officials of family counselling centre, Rajan Kumar, said in most of the cases married couples want to stay in touch with their former partners.

“Neither the girl nor the boy is willing to severe ties with their ex-partners, which becomes a reason for marital discord,” he said.

What makes matters worse is that instead of solving the problem, couples go straight to court and start living separately.

While citing a recent case, Kumar said: “The wife was asked to leave on the grounds that she was mentally disturbed. We had her admitted in a psychiatric institute for treatment. Later, we learnt, the husband was involved with another woman.”

The chairperson of the state women’s commission considered these cases as “trafficking at home”.

One of the officials of Women’s Helpline said that they had received 28 bigamy cases.

“First, we lodged a complaint in writing to investigate whether the cases were genuine or not. Over nine cases were closed due to lack of genuine proof,” she pointed out.

If necessary, the volunteers also seek the help of the police, who are always ready to lend support.

Several cases have been received from Gumla, Lohardaga, Palamau, Bokaro, Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, Simdega, East and West Singhbhum.

A shelter home is also urgently required with at least two rooms, four beds, a mobile and a vehicle for emergency cases.

Special recommendations should be made for admission and treatment of mental patients, she suggested.