Originally posted by: Bana
Actually in India the provision against bigamy is v strong but rarely imposed. It is a civil provision, not criminal, so no court or police can take suo moto cognizance and arrest. Arrest is possible only if spouse or child complain, which rarely happens. There is nothing to stop a man from marrying second time in a religious ceremony (not legal). As u may have seen, lots of movie stars are khullam khulla living with 2 marriages. e.g. Dharmendra, never divorced first wife. Still respected & invited everywhere. Sevond wife is also highly respected & MP. In the south industry there are many like that - it is called âchinna veeduâ meaning smaller house (the second wife & child household) in Tamil so there is actually a proper term for it!! It is not so uncommon & the first wife almost never prosecutes. The main reasons are lack of financial indepence of the first wife, wanting to have âpita ka sayaâ for the kids, social stigma of divorcee, expensive laywer fees etc. The 2 households dont interact & pretend to ignore the other. The second wife sports a mangalsutra & sindoor also. Many such men actually financially maintain both households. They live in one & âvisitâ the other. Hema Malini has said that Dharam never lived with them.
Well said @Bana. You have very nicely highlighted the problems faced while pursuing legal action. Though we have the best laws on paper, the implementation unfortunately is poor. Itâs actually very daunting to go through legal proceedinds esp in these sensitive matters involving women. Power, Paisa , Influence bolta hai and are very much a part of court proceedings. In addition to that it drains you financially and takes a toll on your mental, physical and emotional health. You are right, there are lots of real life examples of fictional character of MM. And bigamy is not the only one. There are so many others too like child marriage etc. So to combat all this ,laws like HMA , IPC etc were introduced. These practices may still be rampant, but it doesnt make them legal. Based on the severity, they are either civil or criminal offences. Bigamy is a non cognisable - so there is no authority to arrest without warrant. Also, it is compoundable- so the compaint can be taken back anytime and matter can be reaolved to compromise. Often people take this route because it is easier - the court case can take years and years to come through - A lot of stamina, will power, iron determination, mental strength etc is reqd. All character traits we associate with the fictional Priya. Hence @ CoolDocSid came to the conclusion that Priya def filed a case against MS but he was bailed out by Shashi (Power/ Paisa/ Influence). And I personally felt that MM preferred to go through the compromise route keeping in mind her financial condition &daughters well being.