Khutbah shaadi: 'Married' without papers, dumped without scruples
Khutbah shaadi: 'Married' without papers, dumped without scruples
HYDERABAD: She was 28 when Imran* came home asking for her hand in marriage. And more than Rabia*, it was her daily wager parents who rejoiced in that moment. Their daughter was the eldest of five siblings, way past the "ideal" marriage age and often discreetly ridiculed among relatives for her "ordinary" physical attributes.
So, when the small-time trader from Hyderabad's Hussaini Alam demanded an "off-the-record" wedding, nobody objected. Imran assured a Mehr (gift given by husband to the wife at the time of a Muslim wedding) of Rs 50,000, gathered two witnesses and it was done. There was neither a Qazi nor a nikah nama (a formal marriage contract as per Islamic tradition).
Three months later, Rabia was unceremoniously abandoned. She is back at her parents' modest home - hiding from the man she thought would take care of her for life.
And though beaten and bruised, she has no locus standi to drag Imran to the cops or court. "Without a nikah nama, there is no official proof of marriage. How can I take any action against him? My parents are too poor. They married me off, knowing this was illegal, only because they thought they'd have one less mouth to feed.
Now, if he doesn't give me any money for sustenance what will I or my family do?" a distraught Rabia said.
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This ugly face of contract marriages without documents - a menace alive and thriving in the battered alleys of Hyderabad's Old City for years now - has pushed scores of poor Muslim women into a state of absolute helplessness. Locally referred to as 'Khutbah ki shaadi' (Khutbah is one of the religious sermons recited during an official nikah), these illegal weddings have become frequent in recent times, say social activists.
The storyline in most cases is much the same: the woman is past her "prime", taken in by the husband for a few months and then abruptly dumped - often for another woman. But none of the victims has legal documents to prove their nikah.
Social workers explain how this "trend" of dummy marriages started picking up after the decriminalisation of adultery in 2018. "This, coupled with the ban on triple talaq that came in 2017, led to several men, unwilling to get tangled in legalities, abandoning their women without a formal divorce," said Jameela Nishat, founder of Shaheen Women's Resource and Welfare Association.
Samiya* found her husband had more than one Khutbah ki shaadis. "He was with me for eight months. Then suddenly, one day, he dropped me off at my mother's house and asked me not to come back again. After days of cajoling him to return, he said he has a girlfriend and wants to be with her," said Samiya. The 30-something is now pleading with the man to either reunite or offer her monetary help to stay afloat.
TOI's investigation revealed that there are marriage bureaus operating in Hyderabad, clandestinely arranging such illegal marriages - for a fat commission. "Yes, we will get it done...It will be for three months... There'll be no nikah nama or Qazi... We will take all precautions to ensure there is no problem (read: police scrutiny)," said the woman from the other side of the telephone when TOI called one such bureau in Langar Houz, posing as a prospective client.
* All names have been changed to protect identities
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