india

Updated: Jan 26, 2017 22:55 IST

An Indian hailing from Kerala, who deserted his Pakistani-origin British wife and married again, was traced by the woman to his home town in Malappuram district and made to pay alimony after a long and arduous legal procedure on Thursday.

While doing his MBA in London, Noushad Hussain, from Chavakkad in the district, befriended a Pakistani-origin British citizen Mariyam Khaliq (34), a sales officer. After 18 months’ courtship, they got married in April 2013. A year later, Noushad left UK promising to return after getting his parents’ nod and solemnise their marriage again in Kerala.

She said initially he used to call her but later the calls stopped and he remained incommunicado. After some time, he sent a letter saying his parents were against the marriage, and he would not come back to the UK.

Since he didn’t leave much trace in UK, she landed in Malappuram in 2015 with their wedding album, trying to locate him. But the task was far from easy, especially because of her Pakistani background, with even police officers, literally shooing her away.

Moved by her plight, ‘Snehitha,’ a Kudumbhasree (a successful women self-help group)-controlled NGO, came forward to help her. After two months’ of intense search, Hussain, who was getting ready for another marriage, was located. When he refused to accept her, she filed a case against him in Kunnamkulam first-class magistrate court in 2015.

Later, the magistrate granted her permission to stay in Hussain’s house and directed the police to give her protection. Despite her stay at his house, Hussain went ahead with his second marriage.

She said his family, citing her Pakistani roots, tried to intimidate her on a number of occasions. They also gave a false complaint, saying she was an agent of Pakistan intelligence outfit but she was unmoved.

“They tried their best to cancel my visa, but I was firm,” she told HT.

Soon, many good samaritans and lawyers came around. After obtaining a divorce decree from London, a settlement was brokered before the court, as per which she would be paid a one-time alimony that was commensurate with the living conditions in the UK.

“I made three trips to India in between and faced many hardships. It is not for money alone. I want to teach him a lesson for playing with my life. I want to give a message that women can’t be taken for granted and fooled so easily,” she said, adding she would tour the country before leaving for UK.

“People are friendly here. Though the system is a bit slow, it works effectively. I hope my case will work as a deterrent to many women who are duped in a similar fashion,” she said.