Man sent to jail for hiding marriage from second wife
The woman had lodged a complaint against him
A Lahore man has been sent to jail for not telling his second wife about his first marriage.
Arfah Naz has claimed that Rehmat Ali had lied to her about his marriage, adding that she tied the knot with him thinking he is single.
The woman lodged an FIR against Rehmat at the Shahdara police station when she came to know two days after the marriage that the latter was married and had children too.
She demanded that Rehmat should be punished for deceiving her. A district court sent him to jail on judicial remand.
Section 6(5) of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 states that a man is required to submit written permission from his first wife if he wishes to marry another woman. If a man is found guilty of violating the law, then he may be imprisoned for a year.
Two years ago, a Lahore court sentenced a man to 11 months in prison for getting married for the second time without the permission of his first wife. A fine of Rs250,000 has been imposed on him too.
The court said that his prison sentence will be extending by four months if he fails to submit the said amount.
The wife of Rashid Mahmood, a resident of Iqbal Town, said that he married another woman and didn’t ask for her permission. The case was taken up by a judicial magistrate.
Last year, Pakistan’s Supreme Court also made it mandatory for men to give Haq Mehr to their wives before marrying for the second time.
In its verdict, a two-member bench said that the husband will have to pay the entire amount of dower fixed at the time of marriage immediately if he enters into a second marriage without seeking permission either from first wife or arbitration council.
The landmark decision came after a man had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Peshawar High Court verdict.
The PHC had ordered the man to pay his first wife the entire amount of dower because he contracted a second marriage without seeking his first wife’s permission.
The two-member bench dismissed the man’s appeal and upheld the PHC’s decision.
The top court referred to the aforementioned Section 6 of the Muslim Family Law Ordinance and stated that it doesn’t place any restriction on men to contract second marriage but it does ask men to seek permission from wives.
The apex court said any deviation from the ordinance could ensue the issues which would frustrate the fabric of relationships within the society.
