Triangular love stories make for an excellent commercial film script or an exciting watch on televisionreality shows. But when it plays out in real life, it could leave many perplexed, as an incident inside a court hall at the Madras High Court (Madurai Bench) on Monday proved.
Judges, lawyers and litigants watched in disbelief as two men staked claim over a woman insisting that they were legally wedded to her.
The drama unfolded when a bench comprising Justices N Paul Vasantha Kumar and P Devadass was hearing a habeas corpus petition
filed by Ramraj, of Alaganampatti in Tiruchy district.
Contending that his wife Radhika (22) was missing since July 17, he approached the court seeking a direction to the police to trace her.
During the hearing of the case, Radhika turned up in court with a man Senthil Kumar, whom she described as her husband. Soon more twists and turns emerged.
It transpired that Radhika, a temporary teacher in an Adi Dravidar Government School in Thulukkpatti in Virudhunagar district had married one Ramesh in 2006 who died in 2007.
On July 10 this year, her relatives solemnised her wedding with Ramraj, the younger brother of Ramesh, at a temple in Palani.
However, a week later she went missing prompting her newlywed husband to lodge a complaint and file the habeas corpus petition.
However, Radhika stunned the judges saying that she had married Senthil Kumar of Thoothukudi, a secondary grade school teacher, even before she had wedded Ramraj.
Claiming that the marriage had taken place in Thiruvaduthurai, Radhika produced photographs of the function. Ramraj also submitted photographs of his wedding with Radhika and submitted that their marriage was conducted with her consent and registered with the Palani temple Devasthanam.
He also alleged that Senthil Kumar was already married to a woman in Thoothukudi. When the judges questioned Senthil Kumar if he had any other evidence of his marriage with Radhika, other than the photographs, he replied in the negative.
Angered by this, the judges pulled up Senthil Kumar and cautioned him that being a government servant he cannot marry another man’s spouse as per the Hindu Marriages Act.
The judges then suggested to Radhika that she should go with her family members and Ramraj. The woman, nonetheless, insisted that she wanted to accompany Senthil Kumar.
To the surprise and amusement of those in the court room, both Senthil Kumar and Ramraj caught Radhika’s hands attempting to pull her to their side.
The visibly irked judges then directed the Thogamalai Inspector of Police to file a report on the real facts of the case and adjourned the case to Wednesday.