Wife in US, husband in Nagpur; divorce granted via WhatsApp
In a rare incident, a family court in Nagpur, Maharashtra, granted divorce to a couple through an unusual method: a WhatsApp video call, since the woman was in Michigan at the time of hearing. The man was, however, present in the court. The woman, a student, was unable to avail leave for travel from her institution, so she couldn't come to India.
Fights ensued when wife started living with her in-laws
On August 11, 2013, the couple had an arranged marriage in Secunderabad. Both of them were engineers, and had secured jobs in a US-based automobile company. Dispute cropped up after the wife, 35, stayed with her in-laws in Nagpur after her visa got expired. She returned to Michigan later on a student visa. Over time, differences between the 37-year-old and the woman increased.
Wife couldn't return to India as college didn't allow leave
Eventually the marriage collapsed, and the husband returned to Nagpur to file a divorce application in the court. The wife, however, couldn't return to India because she wasn't permitted a long leave from her educational institution. Smita Sarode Singhalkar, the wife's lawyer, then arranged a meeting at her office in Khare town in Nagpur to allow the couple to opt for an out-of-court settlement.
Initially, couple could not agree on the alimony amount
The wife had requested the meeting to be conducted via WhatsApp. The meeting was attended by the husband and his lawyer. The woman's brother represented her, with her being present on WhatsApp. It took a couple of meetings to reach a common ground as both sides took time to come to an agreeable alimony to be paid to the wife towards permanent settlement.
Couple agreed on one-time settlement of Rs. 10 lakh
After both the husband and wife agreed on a one-time alimony of Rs. 10 lakh, Singhalkar and the husband's lawyer, Sameer Sonawane, arranged a court hearing. The husband attended the hearing while the wife was represented by her brother. The wife was interviewed in terms of the settlement by the counselor via WhatsApp video calls and the husband was also consulted.
Duo was already living separately in US
The woman had prepared and sent her divorce documents from Michigan to Nagpur. Following this, both the lawyers explained that since the couple was already living separately in the US and had agreed on a one-time settlement, a divorce should be granted. Nagpur Family Court Judge, Swati Chauhan, turned the divorce case into a mutual consent petition before dissolving the marriage.
