The long wait: Woman gets divorce ‘after 32-year wait’

Woman in her 80s said she had moved in with her parents in 1980, two years after she lost vision in both eyes.

FAISALABAD:

A woman has divorced her husband 32 years after the couple started living separately.

Sallan Bibi’s application for divorce was accepted by a family court in Jhang on Saturday in ex-parte proceedings that continued for three months. She had submitted that she did not seek a divorce earlier thinking that her husband, Enayat Hussain, might return to her. Sallan Bibi, who says she is in her 80s, said she had moved in with her parents in 1980, two years after she lost vision in both eyes.

She said Hussain’s ill-treatment of her had led to separation. She said he used to taunt her about her disability and often beat her up for no reason. She said the couple’s only son had died four months after his birth in 1968, the year they got married.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2012.