Tuesday April 1, 2008

Man divorces 2 wives within 3 mins of each other

By R.S.N.MURALI

KUALA TERENGGANU: It was no April Fools joke. The short messaging service (SMS) was real – a man divorced his two wives within three minutes.

In the lower Syariah Court, businessman Roslan Ngah, 44, divorced both of his wives by pronouncing talak (intention to divorce) to each of them.

He pronounced talak to his second wife Mastura Ahmad, 35, at about 11.50am, and then to Norhayati Ismail, 46, before Syarie judge Wan Abdul Malik Wan Sidek.

Wan Abdul Mali said this was the first time in the court’s history of two wives seeking divorced at the same time.

Earlier, someone had sent out a message “There is a case in Syariah (court), husband divorce two wives. Star plse come now.”

Four reporters here who received the SMS brushed it off as a prank.

An hour later there was another SMS: “This is not a joke, plse come to court now.”

This time the reporters headed to the court. They made it in time to listen to the proceedings.

Norhayati, a homemaker, has four children, aged nine to 22, with Roslan after marrying in 1986.

Mastura, a nurse at Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital, has two, aged six and 10, following their marriage in 1995.

Both women looked composed during the proceedings. With Norhayati was her eldest daughter Nurfarhana, 19.

The divorces were made under Section 44 of Terengganu Syariah Enactment.

Outside the court, Roslan said he felt sad to be separated from his wives whom he claimed asked him for the divorce.

He said both women shared “a very close relationship” and lived in a house in Pasir Panjang here. He lives in another house a few metres away.

“They are like good friends but I never imagined that both of them had collectively decided to divorce me.

“I admit that my relationship with them had strained over the past few months but I never expect our marriages to end in this manner,” he said in a calm voice.

Roslan confessed that he was also married to another woman in 2001 and was blessed with a baby girl but were separated in 2004.

When asked whether he would remarry, Roslan replied: “If my fate says so I have no qualms and this time I hope that my marriage would last forever.”

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