Delhi High Court Condemns Roka Ceremony, Says It's A Social Evil

Tuesday, September 13 2016, 06:14:05

Jayati Godhawat

JWB Blogger

Delhi High Court Condemns Roka Ceremony, Says It’s A Social Evil

JWB Post

September 7, 2016

In India, where still most marriages are arranged and fixed by the family, Roka ceremony holds much importance. It is the official announcement of the marriage of a boy and girl after which they are considered, ‘booked or hitched.’

However, for years now, this pre-wedding ceremony has become more of a business in terms of exchange of gifts either in kind or cash. The ceremony is no more just a formal announcement but is a platform where both the parties show their worth and status to each other and the society.

In a recent hearing of an appeal for divorce, the Delhi High Court condemned this tradition and referred to it as a social evil.

The bench of Justices included Pradeep Nandrajog and Pratibha Ranni who were hearing a case of a wife who appealed for divorce on the grounds of cruelty and desertion.

However, during one such hearing, the husband claimed that the woman had complained about the bad quality of the gifts received during their Roka in August 2006, while the woman argued that the man’s family had issues with the money and gifts provided by her father in the ceremony.

According to The Hindu, the High Court advocated,

“The ceremony of Roka goes back approximately 25 years ago. Under this, a couple is treated as a kind of a chattel. Its significance is that on the account of money given by the family of the female to the male, it is conveyed to the society that neither would henceforth scout for a life partner – the search for a life partner is stopped: Roka . It is a social evil which needs to be condemned. It entails useless expenditure and in many cases, becomes the source of future bickering. A Judge has no means to fly back in time to see what had happened.”

Very well stated!

The couple did get a divorce, but the High Court crossed out the allegations of cruelty and desertion on the husband.

High Court’s statement on Roka ceremony reflects all that is wrong with the Indian marriages and why the society should shun it.