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Divorce
There were many ways of divorce
(inthen). The most common forms of divorce
were mak and sumchhuah. In mak, a man could divorce a woman by simply
saying that he was divorcing her. If the wife was with children (thisenpal),
the husband had to pay the balance of the price and
if without children (thisenpallo), the husband did not have to pay the
outstanding balance. The divorced woman could take with her
all personal properties and her dowry or thuam. In sumchhuach a woman
could divorce her husband by refusing to remain with him and leaving him.
A woman was free to divorce her husband in this way whenever she liked, but the
entire price paid by her husband would have to be returned to him. In
sumchhuah also the woman could take back all her personal properties and
her thuam. If after divorce the husband wanted to call back his wife, she
sometimes would come back on getting some money - about twenty rupees, from
him. This sum was known as famghmanei. Sunlaition was a form of
divorce agreement. In this case the price, would be shared equally by the
two parties. Thus if a husband was still to pay the larger part of the
price, he would deduct what he had already paid from the half price that he had
to pay under the agreement and would pay the balance. If he had paid up
the whole price he would get half of it back. Peksachang was another form
of divorce by agreement and in this case there would not be any further
transaction with regard to the price wholly paid or outstanding.
In pasal awn lah hlana
chhuak, when there was a separation between husband and
wife because of the husband being away from home for a long period the wife was
expected to remain in her husband's house and await till his return. But t his
also could lead to a divorce which would either be mak or sumchhuah, depending
on the circumstances. In case of the husband abandoning the wife and going
away, nuppui tlausan, the house, field and all other property would vest in the
wife. Their children would also go to the wife and she would get the
marriage price of the daughter. In case of his return after a year, the
wife had the choice of taking him back or not, and in case of latter, she could
give back the house, the property and the children.
Lunacy could be a cause of divorce (atna vanga inthen). The normal spouse
was expected to look after the lunatic partner for three years. Divorce
was allowed if there was no normalcy after this periods. In case of impotence
of a man (Zangzaw), a woman could divorce the husband, if after some prescribed
ceremonies by the puithian and after waiting for three months or an agreed
period the husband did not become potent. If the wife's accusation was
found to be false by witnesses appointed to see the performances of the
couple, she was fined forty rupees. In the reverse case called chhuping if
a wife owing to physical peculiarities was unable to perform her duties to her
husband, the husband, was entitled to a divorce and to get back all prices he
had paid.
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