AHMEDABAD: A Gujarati woman married the same man twice and then dumped him before being taken to court over it.

Sohini Patel married Vinod Patel twice within three months. But when asked by the Gujarat high court, she rejected her husband's proposal that they live together.

Vinod not only faced the humiliation of being rejected by his legally-wedded wife but he now also faces criminal charges for allegedly harassing her. Sohini had eloped with him twice and signed on marriage documents before sub-registrars.

Sohini first eloped with Vinod in August last year just a day after she turned 18. They married on August 23, 2013 but just two days later they were caught, brought back and forced to sign a divorce deed on August 26, 2013.

Three months later (on November 26, 2013), they eloped again. The couple went to Rajkot district and registered their marriage at a sub-registrar's office. They went to Junagadh and lived together for 11 months. On October 16 this year, Sohini returned to her home in Ahmedabad and declared that she had been forcibly confined by her husband.

After Sohini left him Vinod filed a habeas corpus petition in the high court claiming that his wife was illegally confined by her father and brother. The girl's family was against their marriage. Hence they had separated the couple once. But they had managed to reunite and get married again, Vinod said. Her family interfered again and had kept her in Ahmedabad against her will, he alleged. He also expressed the apprehension that his in-laws would try to brainwash her.

When the high court asked Sohini about this, she flatly refused to go with her husband. On the contrary, she complained against him and alleged that he used to harass and blackmail her. She also requested the Mahila police station to restrain her husband from harassing and blackmailing her further.

She said that after their second marriage, she had come to know that Vinod was a married man and that he had hidden his relationship in order to marry her. He was also facing criminal cases and used to beat her in Junagadh, she stated.

The high court then permitted Sohini to live with her family and said that she could pursue criminal proceedings against her husband. At the same time, the high court also permitted Vinod to take legal recourse to get his wife back.

(Names have been changed to protect identities)