A marital dispute between a Pakistani Hindu couple has reached the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The woman, who is back in her motherland, wants the court to take the necessary action to ensure her husband is deported so that his sinister plan to marry another woman would fail.
Pakistani citizens Nikita Devi (28) and Vikram Kumar Nagdev (35) tied the knot on January 26, 2020. While the two had arrived in India afterwards, reportedly on long-term visas, Nikita went back to be with her parents. Over time cracks developed in their relationship, and the woman has filed a writ petition in the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, accusing her husband of planning a second marriage without divorcing her, and seeking his deportation to Pakistan. He plans to marry an Indian woman in March next year and the court needs to act before that, she had pleaded.
Nikita's lawyer Dinesh Rawat reportedly told PTI on Thursday that his client filed a petition in the MP High Court under Article 226 of the Indian Constitution, which is likely to be heard next week.
The husband’s version
Meanwhile, Karachi-native Nagdev denied his wife's allegations. He claimed that his wife is trying to extort money from him under the pretext of a family dispute. Nagdev said, "We came to India after marrying in Pakistan. Shortly thereafter, my wife returned to Pakistan on her own will. She refused to come to India or obtain a divorce by mutual consent. I also tried to resolve the family dispute through our community's panchayats, but she refused," he told PTI.
"Now I want to divorce my wife. She has defamed me both domestically and abroad and has caused me mental distress," he said. Before the High Court, the Pakistani couple's family dispute had reached the 'Sindhi Panch Mediation and Legal Consultancy Centre' in Indore, but it could not be resolved. Kishor Kodwani, the consultancy centre's head and social activist, said, "Despite my numerous efforts, the two parties failed to reach a compromise. Subsequently, in my report to the district administration, I recommended that Nagdev be sent back to Pakistan because he and his wife are both Pakistani citizens and Pakistan is the jurisdiction for their family dispute."
Indore, known as the financial capital of Madhya Pradesh, has a large population of refugees from the Sindhi Hindu community who fled Pakistan to India on long-term visas or residential permits due to alleged persecution. Over the years, many of these people have also been granted Indian citizenship.
