I had sex with Nikhil and not marriage, so no need for divorce: Nusrat Jahan

Amid recent reports of their strained relationship, Nusrat Jahan, Trinamool MP and actor, on Wednesday said that her wedding ceremony with businessman Nikhil Jain in Turkey two years ago is “invalid”. She said that their separation happened long ago, but she did not speak about it as she wanted to keep her private life to herself.

She said, “I had sex with Nikhil. Not marriage. As a result, there is no question of divorce.” She reportedly told a news agency: “Being on foreign land, as per Turkish Marriage Regulation, ceremony is invalid. It was an interfaith marriage, it requires validation under Special Marriage Act in India which didn’t happen. As per court of Law, it’s not marriage, but relationship or live-in relationship. Thus, the question of divorce does not arise.”

The controversy over Nusrat Jahan, 31, has been raging for the last five days. As per Nusrat’s statement in Lok Sabha, Nikhil is her husband. Even writer Taslima Nasrin spoke about Nusrat’s silence and wrote, “If this is the case, isn’t it better for Nikhil and Nusrat to get divorced? There is no point in hanging on to an immovable relationship like a bat. It is uncomfortable for both sides.”

Two days ago, Nikhil Jain had said he had filed a civil case against Nusrat. “The day I found out that Nusrat did not want to be with me, she wanted to be with someone else, I filed a civil case.”

Nusrat wrote on his Instagram profile on Wednesday, “I will not be known as a woman who is silent even after hearing everything.”

In June 2019, Jahan and Jain had a wedding ceremony in the picturesque Turkish town of Bodrum. “Towards a happily ever after with Nikhil Jain,” she had tweeted after the wedding.

Stressing that her marriage is “not legal, valid and tenable”, thus, was not a marriage at all in the eye of law, the MP from West Bengal’s Basirhat said it was she who bore the expenses for her sister’s education and her family’s well-being “from Day One”.

“I have made my own identity by my sheer hardwork; thus I would not allow anyone not related to me to share the limelight or a title or followers, based on my identity,” Jahan said in her seven-point statement. Jahan had won the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Basirhat by over 3.5 lakh votes. She was among the 17 women who were fielded by Mamata Banerjee’s party that year and was a huge crowd-puller at poll rallies.

With agency inputs