Hi, I got married in Dec 2011. My husband and in-laws put me through extreme emotional, verbal, physical abuse right from the third day of marriage. They had unlimited demands for dowry which could never have been met by my parents. My husband was extremely insecure, ill-tempered guy who was suffering from inferiority complex. He caged me at home. I was not allowed to go out unless accompanied by his family member(s). I was not allowed to work . I am an engineer. He probably suffers from bipolar disorder or some other psychological genetic disorder. His mother was also crazy like him. I have no medical evidence regarding that. I was emotional and thought that maybe a baby could change things. My daughter was born in Oct 2012. The physical, mental emotional torture grew with the passage of time as they had a desire for a male child. My husband was an alcoholic and had substance abuse problem. My in-laws never supported me. My mother-in-law was instrumental in making my life hell. She wanted me to do all house chores though we had helpers in the house. I was not allowed to sleep enough number of hours or to even feed my child. Violence increased and when it started affecting my daughter I decided to leave the house. At that time I was not sure that I would never return. When I left their house, I filed a police complaint stating that I have been suffering due to domestic violence. I have been living away from them since Aug 2013 with no contact. They have not taken any interest in the upbringing of the child. I have been living with my parents outside India. I am filing for my divorce case. However, I want to do it with mutual consent as this family is very nasty. For the safety of self and my child I do not want to involve myself again with this family. I do not want alimony or their jewelry etc. I am doing this for my child's permanent sole/ exclusive physical & legal custody and want to keep her away from any future harm. Is there any section which protects a child post divorce from her vicious father? In the mutual consent petition I want to highlight these issues to safeguard myself if they change their mind. Can I do this or is it immaterial? How can I ensure that he never contacts her in the future to play with her mind? Please advise. Many thanks!
Asked 7 years ago in Family Law
Religion: Hindu
Many thanks for all your responses. I would like to clarify that my husband had filed a petition which was sent to my local address in India in Feb/ March 2017 but it was not received by my relatives. My lawyer was already working to send a notice to them which was sent a week later. I have not filed a petition until now. In July 2017 they spoke to us about mutual consent divorce and I was ok with that. However, I have my concerns that if I do not file a petition and take divorce based on a mutual consent will it have any implications in the future? My husband is not mentally stable so I cannot be sure. Shall I first file a petition and later convert to MCD or can I straightaway go for an MCD - terms of which are carefully drafted? My lawyer is capable to fight the case and has a high success rate. However, he is very busy and I am not happy with his drafting skills. He is just copy pasting and I guess he is taking things lightly. I need help with drafting of my petition/ MCD/ MOU, depending on the course I decide to take. My lawyer did not tell me yet that an MOU needs to be signed in the case of MCD. I have a draft with me which covers the main points and incidents, but its not in legal language as I tried to put it together to guide my lawyer.
I prefer to go for a MCD. The petition for amicable settlement needs to be drafted carefully including all issues that I had to face. If filing a petition for domestic violence/ dowry is a prerequisite, then I do not mind spending the time and energy doing that. The grounds on which I am taking divorce need to be very clear - be it a normal case or MCD. Please let me know if someone can help me with drafting the documents. If yes, what will be the fee? Thanks again and appreciate your help.
Asked 7 years ago