A marriage ended within two hours of getting solemnised, though this time in the favour of a brave girl raising her voice against a dowry-hungry family.
The unique incident unfolded at Chandwe village of Pithoria at the outskirts of Ranchi on Tuesday night when Mumtaz Ansari arrived here with his baraat from Sandi of Sikidri. As per the set rituals, the marriage took place at about 1.30 in night with all kinds of celebrations and lavish food. However, the excitement could not last long, not even couple of hours.
“As soon as the Quboolnama was performed, the bridegroom started doing drama with his new list of demands. He had placed a demand for ‘Passion-pro’ motorcycle which we had purchased. But suddenly they placed demand for ‘Pulsar’ motorcycle. Several other demands related to dowry were raised which was not possible for us to fulfill. The bridegroom’s family threatened to leave without taking my daughter along,” said Bashruddin Ansari, father of Rubana Parveen.
Growing ruckus, arguments and at the top of it the disrespect shown to her tea-vendor father, Rubana decided to go all out against the greedy lot. “She came out and herself expressed desire for ‘Talaq’. We even tried to pacify her but she remained adamant on her decision. Finally, the Kazi and members of Chandwe Anjuman committee present there preformed the ‘Khulla’ just after two hours of the marriage,” said Bashruddin Ansari.
The bravado of the girl soon became talk of the town. later, the villagers realised that bridegroom Mumtaz Ansari was not only eying for lofty gifts but is also poorly literate and an occasional drinker.
“His activities were also unusual. The girl told us in private that she might be killed or harmed in future if the marriage is performed and she goes to their family. She may have been divorced after some time. Realising her uncertain future and ordeal she might be into, we decided to perform the ‘Khulla’ soon after the ‘Niqah’,” says Md Zakir, secretary of the Anjuman Islahul Musalimeen, Chandwe.
This apart, the committee also ruled and documented that the bridegroom family would reimburse Rs6,75,000, the cost incurred on the marriage preparations, without any dillydallying otherwise a case would be registered against the boy and his father Ayub Ansari.
“Although the penalty was slapped, but looking at the daredevil response shown by the girl, this could not satisfy us fully. The villagers unanimously decided to half-shave the heads of the boy, his father and some other relatives in front of everyone in order to teach them a lesson for the future and send out a strong message for all and sundry. The entire community is feeling proud of Rubana. She not only expressed anguish over the dowry system but also stood up against it loudly in her own marriage,” said Md Murtaza, a ward member of Chandwe village.
The act immediately created ripples across the community who quite appreciably hailed the courage shown by a girl and that too from such a poor family. Her father has since then received numerous phone calls thumping for the girl along with as many as three new marriage proposals.
“Some fresh proposals for Rubana have come. We are most likely to fix her marriage at Futkal Toli of Ratu after giving due consideration,” says the proud father of Rubana who showed through her daring act the actual purpose and meaning behind ‘Talaq’ provision—now -a-days in news for all the wrong reasons and politics.