Divorced Dhaka couple remarries in court

The judge of a family court in the capital played a key role in re-uniting a couple who parted ways over misunderstandings and conflict after five years of marriage.   

The man and the woman tied the knot again in the court of the Third Additional Senior Assistant Judge Zahirul Alam on Thursday.  

Moloy Saha and Farid Ahmed represented the husband and the wife respectively in court. The two lawyers, in addition to the judge, are to be credited for their sincere efforts to resolve the conflicts among the couple and make them go back to each other’s arms. 

The couple got married again to ensure a healthy upbringing of their only underage daughter. 

They requested anonymity, saying revealing their names publicly might lead to more conflicts in their relationship in the future. 

They said they would forget what had happened in the past, and would raise their three-and-a-half-year-old daughter with the love, care and affection that she deserved. 

The couple – both working in the private sector – first got married five years ago. It was an arranged marriage, which is still customary in Bangladeshi society. The daughter was born one and a half years later.    

The couple started fighting over trivial issues and conflicts were growing as time went by. The man described his wife as a short-tempered woman, alleging that she spent a lot of time on social media and was indifferent to the family. 

The wife, however, denied the allegations, terming them false and fabricated. She said her husband had been disrespectful towards her that led to painful situations. 

Three years later, it was the husband who filed for divorce.     

After the divorce, the father went to court seeking custody of the child. The judge granted his petition, ruling that the baby would live with him but the mother could see her twice a month in court.  

According to the father, he struggled as a man to rear the small child, who would often cry for her mother. The mother, on the other hand, would also pine for her daughter.     

It was not long until they both realised that this co-parenting arrangement would not benefit the child in the long run, and then thought about reconciliation.  

After a counselling session by the judge in his room on Thursday, they decided to re-marry. The judge called in a Qazi – marriage registrar in Islam – who administered the marriage in the court. Family members of both the husband and the wife were present.  

After the marriage, the couple said the dissolution of their first marriage had a terrible impact on their lives, and they would stay together for the sake of the child.