Morally Bankrupt: Rajasthan HC Grants Divorce to Woman Married Under ‘Aata-Sata’ Custom

The Jodhpur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court has granted divorce to a woman from Bikaner while strongly condemning the traditional “Aata-Sata” marriage practice, calling it “legally and morally bankrupt” and an “inhuman barter system involving human lives.”

The division bench of Justice Arun Monga and Justice Sunil Beniwal overturned a family court order that had earlier rejected the woman’s plea for divorce. The court clarified that cruelty in matrimonial disputes need not be proved “beyond reasonable doubt” like in criminal cases, but should instead be judged on the principle of “preponderance of probabilities.”

The woman married in Bikaner in March 2016 under the customary Aata-Sata arrangement, where families exchange daughters in marriage. On the same day, her husband’s minor sister was married to her brother. Trouble began after the girl attained majority and refused to accept the child marriage, triggering tensions between both families.

The woman alleged she faced physical and mental cruelty , dowry harassment, and was expelled from her matrimonial home in March 2020 along with her minor daughter. FIRs were later registered against her husband and father-in-law, while the husband filed a counter-complaint against her family.

The high court held that the family court committed a “serious error” by mixing the wider family dispute with the issue of matrimonial cruelty. The judges also observed that such customs commodify girls, suppress genuine consent, and resemble “matrimonial hostage taking.” Referring to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, the court said, “No custom is above the law.”