It started with a shocking entry in Chikkaballapur district where a boy who was planning his next marriage was confronted by his first wife who stormed up in a temple and had done it; her appearance led to a police complaint. The case has brought into focus family conflicts and the legal problems associated with multiple marriages.
The groom named Suresh, who was from Andhra Pradesh, would later marry again at the Muneshwara temple near Kodagurki village in Devanahalli taluk, Bengaluru Rural district. Suresh was married to a woman from Manchenahalli village in Chikkaballapur about 20 years ago, however because of family problems the couple separated and the wife lived miles away from him for decades.
Not aware of his plans, the first wife had just shown up on her husband’s doorstep when she arrived at the temple at precisely that moment a week into the wedding preparations was launched; which also happened on the day she met him. Witnesses say Suresh was shocked, confused when he saw her. The unwanted visit had the wedding place chaos going and instantly there was no ceremony going on.
Based on those accounts, Suresh had detached himself from his first wife after disputes and was living separately. The woman, suffering for years, hadn’t heard of his second marriage until recently. Determined to correct what she felt was wrong she confronted him at the temple.
The first wife filed a formal complaint at Doddaballapur women’s police station. As bigamy is a criminal offense under the law of India, it is likely that police will probe everything and judge the circumstances of his second marriage attempt.
The incident has engendered discussion in the community. Many of them had sympathy for the first wife; they had lived apart for years but she was the person who had his legal rights to marry him. Some point out how disagreements expose the utility of legal awareness and family counseling.
The violent stop of Suresh’s second marriage from Kodagurki’s Muneshwara temple shows that unresolved disputes of family can surface for him just at the slightest time. With the first wife going to the police now, it reaffirms the legal and psychological costs of having more than one marriage which is being pursued with the legal and emotional trauma of Suresh's marriage to be pursued as they come in court and we have this situation in which he can no longer live this way (she cannot marry him). A new story that was breaking news for the community but a woman who is a fighter for her rights at last was a story to tell and that is a story that speaks to both all about suffering and solidarity among individuals.
