‘New-wife’ conversions ruled illegal
S. N. M. ABDI in Calcutta
The Supreme Court of India has closed a religious loophole to stop Hindus from taking a second wife by becoming Muslims.
The court has ruled that Hindus caught converting to Islam for the sake of marital bliss will be liable for prosecution. The practice is not uncommon among married Hindu men in India, including many celebrities from the arts and cinema.
Bigamy is an offence under the Hindu Marriage Act punishable by seven years’ jail and a heavy fine, so many Hindus simply convert to Islam, which permits up to four wives at a time. Earlier this week, the court’s Justice Syed Saghir Ahmed and Justice Ram Prakash Sethi banned the practice and declared that marriages formalised after such conversions would be nullified.
“Nobody can be allowed to exploit a particular religion, which has traditionally allowed multiple marriages, for the purpose of renouncing his marriage and deserting his wife,” they ruled. “A person who becomes a Muslim only to marry another woman, without any real change in his religious belief, must be prosecuted and the second marriage nullified.”