The husband in the case of a Bangladeshi doctor held captive by her parents and forced to marry against her will has said he only realised too late that his bride was against the arranged match.When she said "No, no, a thousand times no!" he thought she was being coy...
Khandaker Abu Jalal, 33, told AFP that he was the victim of a "double game" by his wife, Humayra Abedin, a doctor who lives in London, and her family, in a legal wrangle that has attracted extensive international media attention.
"The bitch set me up!"
A Bangladeshi court last week ruled that Abedin, 32, had been wrongfully held by her parents for more than four months during a visit to Dhaka and ordered her to be freed to return to Britain, where she has lived since 2002.
"Does that mean we have to give back the wedding presents?"
Abedin said she married Jalal on November 14 under duress. But Jalal, who is also a doctor, said he had no idea his new wife was unhappy about the marriage until two days after they wed.
"Do you, Abedin, take Jalal...?"
"Urk! Mrrrrmmmph!"
"We met twice alone before the wedding, once at her home and a second time at a restaurant," he said by telephone.
"Hi, there! I'm yer new fiance!"
[Gag!]
"I asked her whether she had a boyfriend. She is highly educated and normally girls like her have boyfriends. I got the impression she liked me."
"I mean, she didn't pull a knife on me or anything..."
He said he was told after the wedding by one of his wife's family members that Abedin had a Hindu boyfriend of Bangladeshi origin in London -- which had angered her Muslim family. Jalal said this had tarnished him and his family. "I never would have married a woman who did not like me," he said. "Both she and her parents lied to me all the way. We have been socially disgraced. It has destroyed my life.
"I've been thinking of doing away with myself! I may become a New Biplobi commie and just end it all."
"I'm depressed and my mother has become very ill as a result of this."
"Mother? Are you alright?"
"Oh, boo hoo hoo! [Sob!]"
Abedin returned to Britain last week and has appealed for privacy as her lawyers in Britain move to annul the marriage.
"And what are the grounds for annulment?"
"She hates his guts, yer honor!"
Jalal said Abedin's parents had told him she was mentally unwell.
"Oh, yasss. The girl's an absolute loon!"
"Unstable."
"Totally unhinged, in fact."
"That's the girl fer me! I'll have no other!"
"On our wedding day she looked fine. It was a simple ceremony and only a few people were invited. We were told that there would be a bigger ceremony before she and I started a new life together," he said.
"Did she say when that was gonna be?"
"Something about a severe temperature drop in Hell. She was locked in the bedroom at the time, so I couldn't quite make it out."
It was up to Abedin to decide whether to continue with the marriage, he added. "We should never have been dragged into this disgraceful saga. I just want to live a peaceful life."