Life with Polygamist: Securing Gender Justice Amidst Plural Marriages in India

Law

The concept of gender justice and equality is inherent in the words as well as in the soul of our Constitution. The problem of Plural marriages or polygamy in India is not new. The life of a woman with a polygamist is not easy. In order to provide justice to a married woman living with a husband having another wife, many things are to be kept in mind. This paper aims to cover various aspects of psychological pressure and mental agony through which the first wife goes through. There are various legislations and other personal laws that seeks to provide justice to women within plural marriages. Gender justice is not merely confined to providing equal status to women in matters of employment, education and in cases of sexual harassment of women at workplace but it also extends to the women who are confined and compelled to live with a husband who has several wives with no escape. The term polygamy immediately attracts the religion of Islam. A Muslim man undoubtedly can marry as many as four times at a time but he has to fulfill all the conditions attached to it. One of the main conditions attached to polygamy is ‘justice’. Justice to a woman within plural marriages is something beyond imagination. The conditions attached to polygamy are so severe and harsh that it is almost impossible for any person to comply with. In the Indian patriarchal system, physical and mental harassment is meted out to the women sometimes in the name of discipline, sometimes in the name of religion and sometimes in the name of morality. Nevertheless, this paper aims to throw light on the plight of woman within plural marriages and how justice can be served to such women.

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