A 28-year-old software engineer from Noida and two women he married have arrived at a strange mutual agreement saving the married life of the three. The three have decided that the man will stay for three days a week with each wife and will be free on Sunday. The man has also agreed to divide his salary equally for both his wives and will give one flat each to both the women he married. Though bigamy is unlawful, the man will continue to live with both his wives while the first wife will retain all her legal rights despite the settlement ensuring that the matter does not reach the court.
According to reports, the 28-year-old man from Noida married a 26-year-old woman from Gwalior in 2018. Both of them worked as software engineers in Gurugram. In 2020, the woman became pregnant and her husband dropped her in Gwalior at her parents’ house. She was also advised not to move anywhere owing to the coronavirus pandemic. The husband returned to Gurugram and married another woman in 2021.
This second wife also worked in the same software company. As the man moved into this second marriage, his second woman also became pregnant. She delivered a baby in July 2021. During this time, the first wife continued to ask her husband to come back, but he did not visit Gwalior again.
Finally, the first wife went to Noida in January 2023 to confront her husband and was shocked to learn about the second marriage and the child born out of it. Following this, the first wife filed a complaint at the Noida police station but no FIR was filed in this case. After coming back to Gwalior, she wanted to file a case against her husband under section 498A of the IPC at the Gwalior family court. However, when she approached a lawyer for the same, he advised her against it, it finally resulted in the arrangement.
Advocate Harish Dewan, the counsellor appointed by the Gwalior Family Court, told the first wife that she can file the case under IPC section 498A, but the case will go on for years, and her husband will continue to live with his second wife. Moreover, she will get nothing while the case is heard by the court. He asked her to device some other solution so that her livelihood is not affected. He advised that she should go and live her with husband, and try to get the second wife out of the house.
The woman understood the situation and asked how to go ahead with it. He asked her to call her husband to Gwalior. Hearing that she is filling a case in court, he went to Gwalior, accompanied by his second wife. The advocate then told the man that he has committed a crime, and asked him to divorce the first woman and legally marry the second wife. But the man was not willing to do that, after which advocate Harish Dewan asked them to devise some other solution so that the first wife is taken care of.
Accordingly, all three sat together for a discussion and arrived at the strange settlement, which will mean that the man will live with both wives.
The advocate said that the three mutually reached an agreement outside the court that saved their married life. According to the agreement, the man will divide his salary Rs. 1.5 lakh per month equally between the two wives. He is also giving his wives one flat each, with the first wife getting a flat worth Rs 80 lakh.
The first wife agreed to the settlement, under which the flat will be transferred to her name, and the man will pay her Rs 75000 each month, half of his salary. The second wife also agreed to it as she also got a flat and half of his salary. But, this was not all. The main question to be solved was with whom will the man live. The second wife said that he has married her also, so the matter should be resolved.
To solve this problem, the three persons again sat for a discussion, and again arrived at a solution. They mutually agreed that the man shall live for three days a week with each of his wives. From Monday to Wednesday, he will live with one wife, and Thursday to Saturday with the other. On Sundays, the man will be free to live with either of the wives, or he can go somewhere else. He is set free for Sundays.
Though bigamy is illegal, the three have agreed to follow this agreement, and the first wife agreed to not file a legal case against the man. However, all the legal rights of the first wife shall remain protected. If the husband breaks any condition of this agreement, the first wife will file a case against the husband.
Advocate Harish Dewan said, “Being a counsellor, the first attempt is to resolve the issue. The first wife wanted security for her baby and did not necessarily want to send her husband to jail. The second wife was ready to live with the first, but the man himself did not want to live with the first.”
He added, “Though it is not legal according to the Hindu Marriage Act and the IPC, the three can live according to the terms of the contract with mutual understanding. If the contract is violated, the first wife can move court.” He said that the court did not remark anything in this regard because the matter is settled outside the court.
