The body of a husband lies in the mortuary of a hospital for months only because two women, each claiming to be his wife, want to perform the last rite. The problem though is that the women belonging to different religions -Hinduism and Islam -have to prove each in court whose claim is stronger than the other's. Named Chandan Sarker, the deceased may have married or lived together with both women. The Hindu woman claims she had a married life of 30 years with the man and the Muslim woman contends that the man embraced Islam when he married her about a decade ago.
Claims and counter-claims in a sensitive matter like this have made it difficult for the court to decide the case. Maybe, both women are right in claiming the deceased their husband. More likely, he deceived both women. It is not known if either of the women was or both were aware of the existence of another woman in the life of their loved one. But there is no doubt that the man was a master philanderer. His male adultery was craftily kept secret from each of the two women, if not from more. The police say that the man used multiple names and had several cases against him.
Now why are the two women so keen to claim the body for burial or incineration, according to their respective religion? Especially when they now realise that he was unfaithful to them. That is a million-dollar question. The man's infidelity on each woman's back should have made him a hated husband but all his debauchery has been forgotten because of the property he has left behind. The reports so far carried in the few contemporaries have not even hinted that he was blessed with children in either of his marriages or live-together. Now, he has a shop at Farmgate market, a busy business centre in the capital.
That he cheated on both women is therefore a non-issue. The issue is to prove who his real wife is. If either of them could take away the body for funeral, it automatically proved her claim. Now both have been fighting the case. One wonders if either of the women has marriage documents. In Hindu marriage, documents are irrelevant unless the couple completes the process in court. But Muslim marriage certainly required some documents because it is furnished in a marriage registrar's office.
In life, the man got away with his adultery but in death his own act has caught up with him. It is not nice to mouth anything indecent about a dead person because death is a great leveller. But unfortunately, in this case even death stops short of making any compromise on what he did when he was alive. He cannot have a decent funeral now for months after his death because his deceit is yet to complete its full course. It is exacting some revenge on him now that he is no more and his mortal remains needed a dignified farewell by his near and dear ones.  Â
When funeral is postponed indefinitely
Neil Ray | Published: July 14, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
Share if you like