Settlements leave women high and dry

A new trend is emerging in the city where more and more women,financially dependent on their husbands,are being given a short shrift by their separating spouses under the guise of amicable out-of-court settlements. Often,cheating husbands seeking separation trick their wives into signing certain documents with the promise of an outside the court settlement.The same documents are later being used against these women by the husbands to get a divorce, says a divorce lawyer.

In the case of Arti (name changed),her husband filed for a divorce after he fell in love with a colleague.As a recourse,she sought the help of a lawyer.Soon after,Arti got a call from her husband asking her to see his lawyer to sign certain documents after which he would withdraw the divorce case.Arti went up to her husbands lawyer and signed on papers which said she was at fault which is why he had filed for a divorce.Later,the same papers were produced in the family court by the husbands lawyer to get a divorce.

Often,such women are financially dependent on their husbands and think of settling outside the court.There is a rise in such cases where women are being duped to strengthen the husbands cases, said Vani S,senior advocate at Hyderabad family court. Interestingly,many such cases in the city revolve around government employees,who risk losing their jobs if charged with bigamy.Conning their wives in the name of an assurance to withdraw the divorce case,they are taking advantage of the fact that the wives too do not want the marriage to end,say lawyers.

The woman is getting a raw deal in the process.First,she is being served with a divorce notice because the husband wants to separate from her.Later she is made to sign on certain documents stating that her fault has led to seeking a divorce, said P Sunderaiah,senior advocate of Hyderabad family court. Vaishali, a homemaker is another case in point.She was asked to sign on documents saying that she was into an extra-marital affair,the reason why her husband is seeking a divorce.She was also assured by his lawyer that the divorce case will be withdrawn and that they should now make attempts to reconcile their differences and get back together.Happy at the turn of events,she appeared before the family court for hearing only to know that the documents where she put her signatures have only helped her husband strengthen his case with better chances of winning.
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(source-toi)