What seemed like the start of a happy marriage soon turned into a nightmare for chartered accountant Gunjan Rathore. She says the man she married through a matrimonial website not only cheated her family out of lakhs of rupees but also subjected her to physical abuse.
Sharing her story with Humans of Bombay, Rathore recalled how she ignored early warning signs, believing things would improve after the wedding. Instead, she claims the abuse only got worse, leaving her to rebuild her life from scratch.
The Warning Signs Came Early
Rathore said she met her husband through a matrimonial site. Since both of them were chartered accountants, she believed they were a good match.
“At 26, I was a CA running two ventures, financially secure, and ready to settle down. When I met him through a matrimony site, a fellow CA, it felt like a compatible match. I didn’t realize I was walking straight into an extortion scheme,” she said.
According to Rathore, problems started just a month before the wedding when her husband and his family allegedly demanded dowry. They reportedly asked for a car, Rs 5 lakh in cash and silver coins for relatives.
“I stood my ground and refused to pay for the car and cash but we still gave gifts to the relatives. Despite the chaos, we went ahead with the wedding, hoping everything would settle,” she said.
Although her family refused some of the demands, they agreed to give the silver coins and the marriage went ahead.
The UK Plan That Never Happened
A few months after the wedding, the couple decided to apply for master’s programmes in the UK. They both received admission to the University of Liverpool. Rathore said she was excited to begin a new chapter, but things took a different turn.
According to her, her husband claimed that his family had cut ties with him and convinced her to take an education loan worth Rs 50 lakh in her name. He also allegedly persuaded her mother to give him another Rs 13 lakh for visa-related expenses.
“He convinced me to take a 50 lakh education loan in my name and tricked my mother into giving him 13 lakhs for his visa. He pretended that his father wasn’t supporting him financially and because of that he broke every tie with him. We believed him and funded the entire trip,” she said.
Rathore said that just three days before they were supposed to leave for the UK, her husband disappeared overnight. When he returned, she claimed he had deliberately torn the visa page from his passport, making it impossible to travel. She said he later admitted that he never planned to move abroad and intended to keep the money.
“Three days before our flight, he disappeared overnight, and came back only to tear the visa page right out of his passport. He said, I’m not going and kept every rupee for himself, leaving my 65-year-old retired father in tears, breaking his lifelong FDs just to pay off the loan interest,” she said.
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Abuse Continued After The Fraud
Rathore said the financial loss was followed by physical abuse. She recalled her husband telling her, “Maine tumhare papa ka paisa khaya, Try and get it back if you can.”
She also alleged that members of his family encouraged his behaviour. “His uncle would tell him, ‘Mard hai to wife ko pitna bhi chahiye’ he began slapping me, pulling my hair. He would say, ‘Kisiko bhi bata, there are no marks, kya proof dikhayegi?.’ Once, during my period he punched me in the abdomen,” Rathore said.
According to her, the final straw came when her husband admitted that he was only staying with her for his physical needs. “When I started questioning him then came the breaking point, he looked me in the eye and said he is only with me for his physical needs. That night, the victim in me died. I walked out, filed an FIR, and had him arrested,” she said.
Rathore said her husband was later granted bail after spending only a few days in jail. She also claimed that while she is trying to rebuild her life, his family is already looking for another marriage proposal for him.