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Case : SANILA - RADHAKRISHNAN

Is a wife liable to pay for an unknown debt in the name of her missing husband?

Case Summary
Sanila, on the day of her 9th wedding anniversary, was all tears at the set of Kathayalla Ithu Jeevitham. Her husband, Radhakrishnan, had gone missing 11 months before, leaving an unknown debt behind; probably his reason for the hiding. Not bothered by the troubles her husband has put her into, the loyal wife came pleading before the judiciaries to help her find her husband and bring him back home.

Whether Radhakrishnan is alive or something has befallen on him remains a fact unknown even eleven months after his missing.

Sanila’s Version
Sanila has come from Edapazhinji in Thiruvananathapuram. For the last nine years, she has been married to Radhakrishnan from Malayankeezhu, who is a manual labourer. Sanila’s father also works as a labourer and her mother is a Kudumbashree worker. Sanila is an SSLC learned and works as an ‘Aaya’ (one who is appointed to look after small children) in Shantiniketan School.

Her’s was an arranged marriage with Radhakrishnan. Nine years to their marriage but they were without a child. Radhakrishnan was undergoing treatment for the same and a small ray of hope had shone but for a short while. There was though, no bitterness in the couple’s life owing to this reason.

They were allotted Rs 75,000 from their panchayat under the housing scheme, with which they set on to build their own house. On the assurance of Sanila’s job and with the hope of support from her family, they took a loan of nearly 1,25,000 and completed the house building work.

There was nothing which seemed problematic. Yet, something must have gone wrong in between to cause Radhakrishnan a change of behaviour. Few days before he went missing, something had seemingly been troubling him. He began to remain quieter, as if being tortured by a thought that he was probably hiding from his wife. Then on 1st January, while Sanila was away in hospital to take care of her aunt, she received the news of Radhakrishnan being missing without a message. The last word he spoke to Sanila over phone before going missing was about some gold jewel that his sister-in-law’s mother had asked him to keep in his security.

Sanila wasn’t given a slight hint of the same earlier. But later, when it came to light that Radhakrishnan was nowhere to be found, the party who had lent the gold came asking for it. Sanila searched the home and found bills hidden in a cupboard that showed details of the gold been mortgaged in a private bank. Following this a case was filed on Sanila demanding her to return the gold property.

She was called to the Malayankeezh police station where her signature was taken over a statement which read that her husband was deceased six months before and that she is liable to return the gold jewelry taken away by her husband.

Sanila says that on January 31st, one month after the missing, a neighbour informed of having seen Radhakrishnan at Guruvayoor. Sanila tried several times to reach him on phone which was switched off all the time. On yet another trial, she could hear the ring tone buzzing but the call went un-attended. The police later found out that the number was active in Thrissur, but they were still unable to find his exact hide-out.

Radhakrishnan had always been a loyal husband and an ideal son-in-law. Sanila and her family are still all-praise for his character.

Ammini’s Version
Radhakrishnan’s sister Ammini and his mother were present in the TV court-room. Both opine that Sanila, since her marriage till date had been a nice daughter-in-law. For some unknown reasons, things were soured-up between Radhakrishnan and his family. After nearly 15 days past their marriage, Radhakrishnan’s attitude towards his sister and her husband had changed. He had stopped interacting with his brother-in-law. Ammini says that Sanila should be aware of the reason but Sanila flatly refuses it.

KIJ’s Summing-Up
Since Sanila is firm on her word that she had been completely unaware of the gold issue and because there is no other serious reason for which Radhakrishnan should go on hiding, it could be doubted that Radhakrishnan had been hiding something from Sanila. It could be his inferiority complex of not being able to become a father added to the debt. From both Ammini’s way of putting words and a secretive talk with Sanila, it is felt that the lady is surely hiding some vital fact.

Law Point

Q. After the death of a husband or when he goes missing, is the wife legally bound to pay for the debt he has taken?

A. No. That is a personal liability and the person concerned is only responsibly to pay back. However, if there is any property owned by him, the lender can retrieve his due amount from it.