Hapur/ Mathura: As she waited for the judge to call her case file, Rinki stared at two advocates in the Mathura courtroom in disbelief and disdain as they argued over the sordid details of another woman’s married life. This wasn’t the first time she had come to the court for her divorce proceedings. Over the last two years, she has seen countless marriages come undone here.
“You abandoned the kids and started living with a woman,” shouted one advocate. The other one raised his voice louder, “No, it’s you who eloped with a lover.”
Rinki, 25, shuddered a little, but she was getting used to this. Since she filed for divorce, she has seen more and more divorce cases in the family court of Mathura, many coming from rural hamlets like herself. Many of these cases are initiated by women, says a bar member.
Divorce-seeking women are growing in India’s small towns, from Hapur to Mathura and Bhopal to Alwar and Jhajjar – unsettling many family elders and even lawyers and judges. It also shatters myths about women’s choices and Indian marriages in non-metropolitan India.
“It took two years for me to make the decision to end my marriage,” says Rinki, an accountant from Govardhan. “The stigma was too much to deal with. But once I visited the district court here, I saw so many other women caring less about divorcee tags. They acted as if it’s not a big deal.”
Source: https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/25-rise-dowry-cases-2021-reveals-ncrb-data-167352
