Man refuses candlelight dinner during power cut, wife walks out of marriage

ALLAHABAD: Lengthy power cuts, which are making life miserable for people in Uttar Pradesh, have led to irrevocable differences between one particular couple in Pratapgarh district and caused a ‘separation’.
Unable to cope with her husband’s refusal to have dinner by candlelight owing to regular power outages, a 32-year-old woman has walked out of her seven-year-old marriage.
“He forced me to stay awake to serve him dinner till the power supply was restored,” Rukhsana alias Babli said in a complaint filed with Pratapgarh Kotwali on Thursday.“Any dissent on my part always invited violence.”
Qadir was apparently otherwise a loving husband and doting father. The couple have three children.
Family elders tried to make Qadir see sense, but to no avail. Unable to cope any more, Babli decided to walk out of the marriage and return to her mother’s place in Surat.
Along with her three children, she went to Kotwali station officer Baliram Mishra and narrated her ordeal. The Kotwali in-charge called Qadir and told him how his peculiar habit was causing problems in his family life. Qadir, however, denied the allegations.
“After putting up with harassment for seven years and failing to convince Qadir, Babli was adamant on leaving her husband forever,” Mishra said. “We tried hard to bring the couple together but both refused to sort out their differences. We’ve asked Babli to stay at her mother’s place for some time and rethink her decision.”
Babli has left for Surat along with her mother and children, said the police.