UK citizen Mariam Khalid arrived in Kerala in search of her husband, who had abandoned her and married another woman.
The case was settled after the woman received alimony, in an out of court settlement.
“I am relieved now that I don’t have to wait for him anymore. He tried his best to prevent me from entering India by spreading rumours that I was a terrorist. But I visited here many times for the case, now within a week I will leave India and will never return,” Mariam told The News Minute.
It was in October 2015 that Mariam visited Chavakkad in Thrissur in search of her husband Kunnumbath Noushad Hussain (28).
Having met through Facebook, the couple got into a relationship and had their marriage registered in April 2013 in the UK.
In March 2014, Mariam says that Noushad left for his home in Chavakkad, Thrissur, after promising that he would convince his family to accept her, following which, they would get married according to religious rites. He also promised to take her to meet his parents once everything was sorted out.
However, some weeks later, Noushad stopped taking Khaliq’s calls, and did not respond to her messages either. He also blocked her on WhatsApp and Facebook.
Later when Mariam contacted Noushad’s parents through phone, they behaved rudely with her.
A year after she began to look for ways to locate Noushad, Mariam stumbled upon Snehitha, a helpline and women’s shelter run by a local Kudumbasree group. She also managed to contact Sudha Haridas and Mohammed Ismail, her advocates, through the web. With the help of Snehitha and the advocates, she reached Kerala and got an order from the lower court giving her permission to live with her husband.
Despite the court order, Noushad’s family did not let her in and Mariam staged a sit-in protest in front of their house in Chavakkad.
“Mariam suffered a lot, Noushad’s family abused her. Last year when a meeting along with Noushad was held, she fainted on hearing him say that she was not even his girlfriend. His father also told her that he married her only to get a permanent UK Visa,” Mariam’s advocate Sudha says.
“When she first came here, her only intention was to live with him. She never agreed for a settlement by giving alimony, but since he remarried and there were no other options left, in a meeting with local political leaders and Noushad’s family, we agreed for a settlement,” Sudha added.