UP panchayat allows woman to live with lover after husband asks to 'end' marriage

The newly-married man told the panchayat that his bride was 'disloyal' and expressed his said that he did not want to live with her. (Representational image)

A village panchayat in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district allowed a woman to live with her alleged lover after her husband and in-laws accused her of adultery and approached the village council requesting permission to "end the marriage".

A youth, held hostage by the woman's in-laws and charged with having an affair with the married woman, was also present when the panchayat announced the order, effectively annulling the three-month-old marriage.

Badsari village head Kamlesh Singh confirmed the incident and said Mukesh Rajbhar of Badsari Jagir married Annu Rajbhar of Parsiya village on May 28, 2025.

On August 31, Annu's in-laws took one Anish Rajbhar of Kaithauli village hostage and accused the two of an extramarital affair, villagers said.

A village panchayat was convened at the request of Mukesh's family on Monday where the issue was discussed at length, they added.

Mukesh told the panchayat that his wife was "disloyal" and expressed his unwillingness to live with Annu. The village council, then, announced that the marriage had been terminated.

SHO of Maniyar, Kaushal Pathak, on Tuesday said that no complaint has been filed on the issue.

"We, too, heard about the panchayat decision reached through mutual consent. Since we haven't received any complaint from anyone on this issue, no case has been registered in this connection," Pathak said.

In a similar incident, in March, an Uttar Pradesh man got his wife married to her lover after finding out about their affair. He further decided to take care of his children and vowed to raise them alone.

Babloo and Radhika got married in 2017 and are parents to two children aged seven and nine.

According to India Today, Babloo used to be out of his house for most of the time to earn livelihood. It was then that Radhika started liking a young man in the village and had an affair with him. The relationship between the two continued for a long time.

When the husband's family came to know about Radhika's affair, they informed Babloo.

Babloo confronted Radhika and gave her a choice. When she chose her lover, Babloo not only agreed, but also arranged his wife’s wedding with her lover and informed the village about it.

(With inputs from PTI)