Woman lawyer attempts to die by suicide after divorce case hearing

BHUBANESWAR: A woman, who has been fighting her divorce case for 13 years, tried to die by suicide in an Odisha family court soon after the hearing ended on Wednesday afternoon. Her lawyer Niranjan Parida said that she took the drastic step as she was upset over the slow progress of her case and the court proceedings on Wednesday.

The woman, a practising lawyer in Balasore courts, had filed for divorce in the family court in 2009. The judge earlier ordered the woman’s husband, also a lawyer, to pay a monthly maintenance of ₹10,000. But she complained that the payments were irregular.

Parida said the woman was upset on Wednesday over the way the proceedings went down in court on Wednesday and attempted to die by suicide. Lawyers rushed her to the district headquarters hospital where her condition is stated to be stable.

The woman even wrote a note in which she asked if it was a sin for a woman to marry. “I have been fighting the legal battle for the last 13 years. The court has been opened for us. If I have committed a mistake by seeking justice, I would rather end my life today,” she said in the note, according to Parida.