Kashmir’s matrimonial maze: The story of one woman and her 27 husbands

Advocate Abid Qadri is patiently and attentively listening to a man on the other side of the phone. As the caller speaks, Qadri, holding his phone close to his ear with one hand, is hurriedly scribbling the details on a notepad with the other. Qadri interrupts the caller to ask a few questions, meanwhile, he realises there is a call waiting on his phone.

He finishes his call and then says, “My phone hasn’t stopped buzzing over the last few days. People from across Kashmir are calling me.” What’s common between all those calling is their ‘wife’ Shaheena.

A ‘spousal spectacle’ surfaced in Kashmir earlier this month when seven men came out claiming they were duped into marrying the same woman – Shaheena. The men haven’t just made hollow claims but also presented photographs and documents to support their assertion. The developments that followed show many more men have been allegedly conned by Shaheena.

Qadri, who is handling the cases of some of the alleged victims, has been inundated with calls from others who also claim to be Shaheena’s husband.

“I find myself amid a labyrinth of stories and claims,” Qadri tells The Federal, adding. “I have been receiving calls from different parts of Kashmir claiming that they have fallen victim to Shaheena’s elaborate ruse. Like a detective, I am trying to join the pieces of this matrimonial maze.”

As Qadri diligently collects data and information, the mystery and interest surrounding the elusive bride continues to intensify.

Shaheena, whose real name is Zaheen Akhtar, hails from the Lam area of Rajouri, as per her Adhaar card details. Her sister Shubeena Begam too has confirmed this detail. Shubeena says she was aware of her sibling’s marriage in Budgam, the central Kashmir district where Shaheena’s three sisters are married. “I am aware of Shaheena’s marriage with Altaf, but the rest is news to me. My sister and mother are currently in police detention in Budgam and I’m grappling with a whirlwind of emotions,” she tells The Federal, in a voice laced with concern and confusion.

“I had an inkling she was up to something wrong. I told her to stop and not get on the wrong side of the law. But she paid no heed. There were constant rumours about Shaheena involved in something in Rajouri and people used to come up and ask me if the rumours were true,” Shubeena says.

“I once called her to tell her to stop her nefarious activities but she cut her arm in anger. The next time my brother told her to stop and she took some tablets. Maybe this was her way to emotionally blackmail us. After that we distanced ourselves from her.”

Shaheena has five siblings — four sisters and one brother. Shaheena is the eldest sister, but is younger than the brother.

***

While there had been scattered stories about her misdoings, the story of ‘one woman many husbands’ went viral on social media when four victims staged a protest in the Press Colony of Srinagar, demanding justice and return of their lost mehar — an obligation, in the form of money or possessions, paid by the groom to the bride at the time of Islamic marriage commonly known as Nikah — after their marriages with Shaheena.

Two days later, Shaheena made a media appearance in Rajouri stating, “If someone can prove I’ve married more than two men, they can hang me. I have no qualms in facing the consequences if they can substantiate their claims.”

In the statement, a copy of which is available with The Federal, Shaheena states, “Five years back, I had an online marriage with Mohd Ismail Chopan but in the camera he showed his son as groom. When I went to their home, Mohd Ismail Chopan said he is my husband. Upon knowing this, I fled from their house and sought divorce after a few months and then married Mohd Altaf. I am now pregnant with his baby.”

So far, Shaheena has stuck to her story, but the photos and videos being presented by those claiming to be her husbands belie her claims.

Adding further complexity to the narrative, a statement from Shaheena’s brother’s wife surfaced in the media. According to her, Shaheena was initially married to a man in Rajouri but later divorced. She bore two children from her first marriage. Later, she allegedly married a man in Budgam district of Kashmir but had fallen apart from him as well.

“Whenever Shaheena used to visit us, she used to say that she has to visit Srinagar as Altaf, her second husband, has filed a case against her. This is what we know, rest I had no clue,” she says in her statement.

Shaheena first got married around 15 years ago in Rajouri district to Chopan. After having two kids, the couple eventually separated. “Four or five years after marriage, she moved back to her maternal home. Later on, she rented a room in Rajouri town and started visiting her maternal home every three or four months. She used to say that she was working as a tailor in town,” says Mohd Yousuf, a relative of Shaheena.

Her first husband worked overseas. “He paid her around Rs 7 lakh at the time of divorce. When I asked him about the reason for divorce, he said she is a woman of unlimited desires. She only wants to fulfil her ambitions but has no love or care for kids and her husband,” he adds.

“After her divorce, she and her mother came to my house and proposed a marriage between Shaheena and my son, Imran Ahmad. I turned down the proposal, thinking about the fact that she had left her children. I questioned what kind of woman she was. Last year, I came to know that she had married Mohammad Altaf Mir in Kashmir. Surprisingly, she had no shame and visited my house again, asking my son to marry her as she had divorced Altaf,” he adds.

“My son Imran is innocent; he had fallen in love with her. I don’t know why Budgam police arrested him and on what charges,” he adds.

One of the neighbours, who wished to remain anonymous, said that Shaheena’s father is a drunkard and has been drinking for almost three decades. “He doesn’t even know what his daughter has been up to. She hardly visits them. When she comes, she stays just for two or three days,” he added.

“Her brother is innocent and works as a labourer, but I don’t know how he agreed to drive her car. He drives an Alto car, which actually belongs to Shaheena. When I asked her brother how he managed to get a car, he said it was Shaheena’s, she bought it with the money she received from her first divorce,” he added.

Mohammad Altaf Mir, a resident of Arikha Budgam, recently came forward with a marriage document of ‘Nikah’ with Shaheena which says the marriage took place on July 5, 2022.

The proposal for Mir’s marriage was presented by a man named Bashir Ahmad Bhat from his hometown. Mir recounts the deception that unfolded, as everyone involved in his marriage proposal seemed to be faking their identities and relationship with Shaheena. He alleges that Bhat introduced some woman Gulshan as Shaheena’s sister and his own brother as Gulshan’s husband.

“It seems like the whole affair was a well curated act. They were actors in a surreal drama,” Mir quipped, his tone both bemused and rueful. “Few days after our marriage, Shaheena had put our photo as her WhatsApp status,” says Mir. As this photo remained online for at least 24 hours, Mir claims that one Ismail Chopan of Budgam saw it and filed an application before the Munsif in Chadoora under Section 97 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). “In his plea, Chopan alleged that I had confined his wife Shaheena illegally. This was the first time she got exposed,” says Mir.

This is when Shaheena was brought before the Munsif court and her statement was recorded on July 16, 2022.

After two months of this incident, Mir claims Shaheena ran away from their house and marriage as well. “I now realise this isn’t a misdemeanour of an ignorant woman. There has to be a group involved in planning and executing all this,” he says.

A walnut trader, Altaf says everything started coming out when Chopan filed a case against him. “When she realised she was getting exposed, she said she had to visit her children. I took my sister along to Rajouri,” says Altaf.

“When she visited the kids, she asked Altaf to stay in the car, as her father wouldn’t like to meet him. My brother agreed. Once we met her kids and the family, she introduced me to them as a relative, not as her sister-in-law, which I found very weird. I had a feeling that something fishy was happening,” says Altaf’s sister Gulshan.

“During her stay in our house, she was constantly fighting, and her language was abusive. Whenever I tried to ask her about her past, her life, and her family, she used to complain of headaches. She used to always be on the phone and whenever I asked, she kept saying that her brother, cousin, and sister were calling her. I wondered why they didn’t come to meet her in person if they were calling her so much,” Gulshan adds.

***

Altaf Mir and Chopan are not alone. Several other men presented their ‘Nikah’ documents and photographs as evidence, accusing Shaheena of deception and fraudulently marrying them and taking their ‘mehar’ money and possessions.

As per unverified media reports, Mir could be among 27 other men who were allegedly duped by the Rajouri woman. The police and authorities are yet to come out with any official version of their investigation in the case.

Like most of these men, Rashid Ahangar’s family claims to have fallen for her elaborate ruse. Ahangar was seeking a bride for his brother Nisar Ahangar. And this is how he got in touch with a middleman Noor Mohammad Bakerwal, who put Shaheena’s proposal before the family. Ahangar and his family, placing their faith in Bakerwal, were convinced that this potential bride would be perfect for Nisar. After all, the middleman boasted of his Rajouri origins and had been living in Budgam for five decades, earning the trust of those he encountered.

With hopeful hearts, the Ahangar family embarked on a journey to Rajouri on June 12, 2023. They spent two nights at the residence of Bakerwal’s brother, where they were introduced to a man named Javed Ahmad, who supposedly knew Shaheena’s family well.

However, their innocence was soon taken advantage of, as a pall of gloom descended on their lives.

On June 14, under the veil of night, Javed arrived with Shaheena and her alleged fake father, who went by the name of Mohammad Shafiq Gujjar. Around midnight the Ahangar family was coerced into an impromptu Nikah ceremony on a hilltop.

The Ahangar family was taken aback by the sudden proposal for a quick wedding but were assured by the middleman that a swift wedding would allow them to leave for Kashmir by the next morning. In the early hours, they set off for Kashmir clueless about the great deception they had been subjected to.

The Ahangar family paid a hefty sum of Rs 2 lakh in cash as the bride’s mehar and additionally, spent another Rs 1 lakh on clothes for Shaheena in Kashmir. They claim to have handed over Rs 1 lakh to Javed Ahmad and Shaheena’s alleged fake father.

And then on June 19, 2023, Shaheena complained of a health issue, and her mother-in-law accompanied her to the hospital. But this was just the beginning of their ordeal, as Shaheena managed to escape from the hospital on the June 26, leaving the family shocked and anguished.

The desperate family filed a missing report for Shaheena at the Chadoora police station, and in their pursuit of truth, they made repeated visits to Rajouri, incurring considerable expenses.

Nisar, who works as a labourer, on the other hand, came to be ridiculed by his extended relatives and neighbours.

Amidst the chaos, middleman Noor Mohammad Bakerwal attempted to evade accountability, claiming innocence and expressing trust in Javed Ahmad. His claims were, however, refuted by those who had fallen victim to the fraudulent proposal.

Adding another layer of complexity to this bewildering tale, Sanaulah Ganai, mason by profession from Beerwah, also in Budgam, claimed to have married Shaheena in Rajouri district on March 12, 2023.

Abdul Hamid, also hailing from a nearby village of Budgam, acted as the middleman in this case. A mehar of Rs 3.80 lakh was reportedly paid. However, the joyous occasion turned into despair for the Ganai family, when Shaheena vanished just 12 days after the marriage.

It was the holy month of Ramzan, when Muslim across the world remain on fast. The family reported her missing and found themselves grappling with the startling revelation that three other grooms had fallen victim to the same deceit.

With every claim, the story only turns more complex, as allegations of a vanishing bride, deceitful marriage and financial losses unfold. A senior police official from Budgam confirmed that an investigation is underway and nothing can be revealed at this point as everyone in the region is awaiting to know the truth behind Shaheena’s alleged multiple marriages.