Growing up in an Indian family, everyone has the dream to find a loving partner, have children with them, and live a peaceful life with their family. While the West is all about being with their partner, Indian families are different, with parents being by their side during highs and lows of life. Sonali was a Law student who was extremely excited for her first Court visit. During her internship under a Matrimonial Lawyer, she assumed it to be another educational milestone, since she had read the family laws and landmark cases. However, her understanding of family law system took a bolt, when she saw how things happened in the family Courts. Here is a glimpse of Sonali’s eye-opener encounter.
Initial Ignorance of a Law School Intern
Sonali realized that even the most tragic hypothetical scenarios from law textbooks could not have prepared her for what she witnessed on her first visit to the Family Courts. Being an intern, her task was to assist with the matter during hearing, and observe the Court proceedings and take notes until it was their turn. The idea was to understand the rhythm of the Courtroom, the flow of arguments, the Judge’s temperament, eventually picturising the art of advocacy. Sonali’s mentor had once mentioned that Family Court was not meant for the faint of heart. She did not realize the depth of those words until this day.
A Glimpse of Family Courts
Sonali was on her own, searching for the Courtroom, since her Senior told her to reach in advance just in case the matter be called earlier. When she entered the Courtroom that morning, it was just a regular sight. The Court Staff was busy with their usual stuff, until the Principal Judge of the Family Courts appeared, and everyone stood up. Matters started being called with the party names, and within minutes, the room was overflowing with more people than chairs, more emotions than the walls could contain.
Matrimonial Cases Calling
Sonali found a corner seat to witness the Judge call the first case: a maintenance dispute. The frail looking woman in her thirties stood with a file in her hand, her voice barely audible. Next to her stood a man, probably a few years older than her, who spoke louder, angrier. While they both expressed their complaints against the spouse, their lawyers did most of the talking. What began as a plea for monthly financial support quickly turned into a volley of accusations.
“She never cared for our family! She left on her own!”
“He and his mother made my life hell! I had to run to save myself!”
“She’s lying. She took the jewellery, the money, and left!”
“He used to hit me in front of our son!”
At one point, the Judge had to intervene to stop the shouting, but even that was not enough.
Sonali’s heart sank with all those arguments, by people who were once happily married. She looked to the side and something broke inside her. There stood a little boy, probably 5-6 years old, sitting next to an elderly woman, presumably his grandmother. He had headphones on, scribbling something in a small notebook. Sonali tried to convince herself that the child was too young to understand the circumstances while his parents stood before the Judge. But then, she saw the expressions on his face – a blank stare, not childlike curiosity. This was the kind of expression children have when they’ve already seen too much.
The Wrath of Matrimonial Disputes
Until her Senior arrived and it was time for their listed matter, Sonali witnessed 3-4 such arguments. Different people, different backgrounds, different specifics, but a similar pattern.
A woman alleging years of domestic violence, with eyes that couldn’t hide exhaustion anymore. A man insisting he was innocent, claiming that false allegations had ruined his life, Lawyers arguing with fiery passion, Judges trying to keep up with the Court’s decorum. Somewhere in between, innocent children witnessed what nobody should ever do, regardless of their age.
Sonali saw a mother break down while describing how she begged her husband not to throw her out of the house in the middle of the night. She saw a father pleading to the Judge that he hadn’t seen his daughter in 2 years. She saw parents fight over who would “keep” the child, as if the child were not a person but a prized possession in the battle of egos.
Back to Life
After witnessing relationships breaking and claiming their truthfulness, Sonali left the place with a really heavy heart. When Sonali returned to her desk at the firm, she didn’t know what to write in her observation notes. What do you jot down after witnessing so many lives cracking open in the span of a few hours? She remembered the little boy with headphones – What kind of man would he grow up to be, having witnessed such hostility at such a tender age? Would he ever believe in love, marriage, kindness?
She remembered the woman who courageously spoke about being hit, being humiliated, who was tagged by the opposing lawyer as manipulative, dishonest, and greedy. What was the truth? And if she was speaking the facts, would she ever be able to trust another man? Would she ever feel safe again?
And then there were the men, some guilty, others maybe not, sitting with clenched jaws as they were accused of everything from physical abuse to dowry harassment, in front of stranger eyes already sure about his guilt. Sonali was not sure who lied and who told the truth before the Court, but she could see what it was doing to them. Would they ever be able to love another woman without the fear of betrayal or accusation?
Resurfacing the Family Court Observations
Aligning her chaotic thoughts, Sonali was sure that the Family Court is not only a place of justice. It was a graveyard of dreams. Every case that comes in is the story of something that was once beautiful, a relationship that began in hope, in love, in the belief that life would be better together. And yet, here they were—two people who once chose each other, now tearing each other apart, using the legal system as a battleground. Even after matters were decided by the Court by applying specific legal provisions, nobody won in reality! It would eventually be the failure of a relationship.
The ultimate lesson from Family Court
One thing that Sonali learnt that day was that in law school, they were taught the laws and precedents. But no textbook tells you what it feels like to hear a child cry quietly during a custody hearing. No syllabus prepares you for the silence that follows a woman’s testimony of abuse. No moot court simulates the helplessness in a man’s voice when he says, “I just want to see my daughter.” Her first day at the Family Court didn’t just teach her about the law, it taught her about human tendency, the fragility of love, of how deeply flawed we can be, and the immense courage it takes to endure, to speak, to survive.
Sonali concluded her encounter at the Family Courts with the understanding that never will she ever take lightly the stories hidden behind case numbers. Now, she knew that behind every petition, there was a person – hurting, hoping, fighting, against things and scenarios they never imagined they will have to face.
