The Pioneer (India): Army Major’s Afghan wife continues quest for justice

http://www.dailypioneer.com/207333/Army-Major’s-Afghan-wife-continues-quest-for-justice.html

Army Major’s Afghan wife continues quest for justice
To slap him with criminal case once he is sacked
Abhishek Anshu/R S Markuna New Delhi/Haldwani
Wednesday, October 7, 2009

A city court has brought some cheer to Bibi Sabra Ahmadzai, an Afghan woman who married an Indian Army officer almost three years ago and was later dumped by him, but her quest for justice would end only after his dismissal from service. Talking to The Pioneer, Sabra said she would initiate criminal proceedings against Major Chandra Shekhar Pant after the Army dismisses him.

Reliving the trauma, she said, “Those two years in Afghanistan without my husband by my side were terrible. The conservative society there passed foul comments against me, and it made me more depressed.” But Sabra is happy now that the court has accepted her claim of being Major Pant’s wife and she wants to fight for justice till the end. She added, “It is all about justice. After what my husband did to me, he should be dismissed from Indian Army. I want him punished for his misdeeds.”

A city court had on Monday ordered Major Pant to pay on a monthly basis Rs 5,000 for maintenance and Rs 3,000 as rent to Sabra after she filed a case in April 2009 under the Domestic Violence Act. Sabra had produced their wedding photographs, a CD, nikahnama and the rent agreement of Kabul with Major Pant’s signature on it, in the court to support her claim. The husband, on the other hand, claimed that the “fabricated evidence” were meant to implicate him. But the court accepted Sabra’s claim that she was Major Pant’s legally wedded wife.

Major Pant was posted in 2006 as a doctor with the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul and Sabra also worked there as a translator. Since her family did not agree to their marriage, Major Pant adopted Islam and rechristened himself as Himmat Khan. They married as per Islamic rites on November 10, 2006. After the wedding, Major Pant returned to India with a promise to take her to India soon. But in 2007, he informed Sabra that he was already married and had two children. She said, “I waited two years for him, but he did not return. So I decided in 2008 to come to India.”

In India, Sabra contacted Army officials, the External Affairs Ministry and other Government agencies as well. As Major Pant was posted at an Army Hospital in Pithoragarh, she and her relatives reached there and took up the matter with the Army officials concerned. She also spoke to the local police and her complaint was registered in Pithoragarh. Subsequently, Sabra filed a case in Delhi’s Karkardooma court in April 2009. Her request for prosecution of Major Pant for bigamy is pending with the Union Government.