NEW DELHI // For 28 years of marriage, Mita Ghosh kept house, raised her children and oversaw the construction of the family home. Now divorced, she has little to show for her nearly three decades of marriage. Under India's divorce laws, women like Mrs Ghosh risk financial ruin if they end their marriage.
Three years ago, Mrs Ghosh, now 56, divorced her husband, an engineer who she claims stifled her dreams from the day they were married.
She had qualified to pursue a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Calcutta but he refused to let her continue her education.
"He didn't want me to go to work," Mrs Ghosh said.
"He didn't want to give money for my daughters. It was a big struggle for me to approve things for them. I became a buffer between the children and the provider."
Her husband spent most of his time away from home, working on contracts abroad while she raised their two daughters and had the new house built.
"Problems were there from the beginning. We were two different people but, over time, money became an issue," she said. "He said I spent too much when I asked for money to repair the air conditioning. He suspected me all the time about other men."
When she finally divorced her husband, she lost all rights to the home she had lived in for 16 years. All she received from her husband was a lump sum of 2.7 million rupees (Dh193,444). Their home was worth an estimated 15 million rupees.
"That house was built by me: my blood, sweat and tears are in that house," she said. "From approving the plans to fighting with the contractor to everything, I did everything."
Never having worked outside the home, Mrs Ghosh now earns 7,000 rupees a month giving private music lessons and is living with one of her two daughters.
Mrs Ghosh's story is not unique in India, but a new law could make life after divorce easier for thousands of women.
There are no official statistics on divorce in India but anecdotal evidence suggests one out of 100 marriages fail, compared to about half of marriages in the US. Divorce, even separation, is stigmatised in India. A married woman sent away from her husband is considered the ultimate shame in traditional households.
The Indian cabinet approved on March 23 a bill that would allow women to stake claim to property bought by their husbands during their marriage. The bill is expected to go before parliament this week and, if approved, will help remove a dreadful choice faced by Indian women in abusive marriages: financial well-being or personal safety. Until now, property remained with the spouse in whose name it has been bought or registered, usually the husband.
The new bill has been hailed by social activists, but they claim it will be difficult to implement.
The idea that a wife has a right to property purchased with her husband's money is foreign to India, said Bharat Chugh, an advocate with the Indian Supreme Court, who specialises in dowry and matrimonial law.
"If a woman is not earning, then she has not acquired it - that is how they see it. But she should be entitled to it because she took care of the home," said Mr Chugh, who also works at the Free Legal Aid Clinic in New Delhi.
The bill leaves the courts to decide what portion of the shared property a wife is entitled to.
Activists said that with no strict minimums, a husband could conceivably grant his wife a minuscule portion of the value of the property and still satisfy the requirements of the law.
"Leaving it to the judiciary, who have until now not been women-friendly, is exactly what we did not want," said Kirti Singh, a lawyer and activist.
"Large sections of the judiciary are paternalistic, patriarchal in their outlook. They don't think women are entitled."
Ms Singh said the new property rights were necessary because 80 per cent of women who choose to divorce are forced to live with their parents.
"Divorce drives a lot of women into destitution," said Ms Singh. "They live at the periphery of their families."
Women are usually granted a "maintenance" or alimony by the courts, which is based on a fraction of the husband's taxed earnings. Since only about three per cent of Indians pay income tax, and then only report a fraction of their actual pay, most women receive paltry alimony. Often their husbands simply refuse to pay.
Last year, an Economic Research Foundation survey of 405 women in Delhi, from all economic classes, showed that 46 per cent said they did not receive their court-ordered payments, and 60 per cent said the money did not arrive on time.
For the poorest, divorce is simply not an option.
Susheela Ram, 21, attempted several times to leave her husband after three years of marriage. The couple and their extended family migrated from Uttar Pradesh to New Delhi where her husband, Shiv Ram, works as a daily-wage labourer. After their first child, Nandini, a girl, was born two years ago, the physical abuse started, said Mrs Ram, a domestic helper.
"When I return, he drinks and beats me, then I spend a few months searching for a new place. Then he comes there and forces me to go back with him. Financially, that is easier, but only if I bear the slaps."
Mrs Ram wants to live separately, but will not consider a divorce.
"No one in my family has ever done that, so how can I?" she asked.
sbhattacharya@thenational.ae
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Managing the separation process
- Choose your nursery carefully in the first place
- Relax – and hopefully your child will follow suit
- Inform the staff in advance of your child’s likes and dislikes.
- If you need some extra time to talk to the teachers, make an appointment a few days in advance, rather than attempting to chat on your child’s first day
- The longer you stay, the more upset your child will become. As difficult as it is, walk away. Say a proper goodbye and reassure your child that you will be back
- Be patient. Your child might love it one day and hate it the next
- Stick at it. Don’t give up after the first day or week. It takes time for children to settle into a new routine.And, finally, don’t feel guilty.
SPECS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
The biog
Favourite car: Ferrari
Likes the colour: Black
Best movie: Avatar
Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in media production from the Higher Colleges of Technology and diploma in production from the New York Film Academy
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The biog
Favourite Emirati dish: Fish machboos
Favourite spice: Cumin
Family: mother, three sisters, three brothers and a two-year-old daughter
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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Starfield
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How to get exposure to gold
Although you can buy gold easily on the Dubai markets, the problem with buying physical bars, coins or jewellery is that you then have storage, security and insurance issues.
A far easier option is to invest in a low-cost exchange traded fund (ETF) that invests in the precious metal instead, for example, ETFS Physical Gold (PHAU) and iShares Physical Gold (SGLN) both track physical gold. The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF invests directly in mining companies.
Alternatively, BlackRock Gold & General seeks to achieve long-term capital growth primarily through an actively managed portfolio of gold mining, commodity and precious-metal related shares. Its largest portfolio holdings include gold miners Newcrest Mining, Barrick Gold Corp, Agnico Eagle Mines and the NewMont Goldcorp.
Brave investors could take on the added risk of buying individual gold mining stocks, many of which have performed wonderfully well lately.
London-listed Centamin is up more than 70 per cent in just three months, although in a sign of its volatility, it is down 5 per cent on two years ago. Trans-Siberian Gold, listed on London's alternative investment market (AIM) for small stocks, has seen its share price almost quadruple from 34p to 124p over the same period, but do not assume this kind of runaway growth can continue for long
However, buying individual equities like these is highly risky, as their share prices can crash just as quickly, which isn't what what you want from a supposedly safe haven.
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
FIGHT CARD
1. Featherweight 66kg
Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg
Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
3. Welterweight 77kg
Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
4. Lightweight 70kg
Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)
5. Featherweight 66kg
Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)
6. Catchweight 85kg
Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
7. Featherweight 66kg
Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg
Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Abdipatta Abdizhali (KGZ)
9. Featherweight 66kg
Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)
10. Catchweight 90kg
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying