Declaring “I divorce thee” three times is not a legal way to end a marriage in Michigan.
The state appeals court on Wednesday overturned a ruling in Oakland County that recognized a divorce ritual that is common among Muslims in India.
Saida Tarikonda was deprived of her rights because she wasn’t in India in April 2008 when her husband traveled there to declare what’s known as the “triple talaq,” the court said.
“To accord comity to a system that denies equal protection would ignore the rights of citizens and persons under the protection of Michigan’s laws,” the court said.
Tarikonda, 31, and Bade Pinjari, 33, were married in India in 2001 and lived together in Michigan for two years until January 2008, according to the court decision. His lawyer, however, disputes the residency.
Pinjari, now in New Jersey, was granted a divorce certificate in India after announcing he was “severing all connections of husband and wife with her forever and for good.” He declared three times, “I divorce thee Saida Tarikonda.”
Oakland County Circuit Judge Cheryl Matthews told Tarikonda to register the Indian divorce in Michigan and file requests for financial support. Tarikonda instead asked the appeals court to intervene and even argued her own case.
There was no phone number listed in her name in Madison Heights.
Tarikonda had filed for divorce in Oakland County and, under Michigan law, would be eligible for a share of marital assets. Her rights would be limited under Muslim law in India.
Terry Hall, a lawyer who represented Pinjari earlier in the case, said a request for financial support would have gone through a state court anyway, even if the Indian divorce had been blessed by the appeals court.
“There is no harm done to her,” Hall said.
“This poor guy,” he said of Pinjari, “all he wanted to do is get rid of the woman who wanted to get rid of him.”