Divorce
Divorce sometimes takes place by mutual consent, but cannot be effected without a certain formality. Man and wife appear before the village elders and state their case, concluding by tearing a pan-leaf into two pieces, fáthoi fesínai, (K.) pán chirá (Assamese), a symbolic act indicating that, as the sundered leaf can never reunite, so their own married life is severed for ever. Should the husband divorce his wife for causes which seem to the village elders inadequate or capricious, he forfeits all claim to reimbursement of his marriage expenses, and even when the divorce is approved of, he must pay a certain small sum (Rs. 5/- to 10/-) for his freedom, the amount being divided between the village pancháyat and the divorced woman. On the other hand, if the woman is divorced for just and sufficient reasons, e.g., for unfaithfulness to her marriage obligations, the injured husband is entitled to recover whatever he may have expended at his marriage, a sum amounting sometimes to Rs. 140/- or upwards to Rs. 200/-. The man who may afterwards marry the divorced woman is held to be responsible for the payment of this money; and so long as this latter condition is duly fulfilled, the divorcée is fully at liberty to live with a second husband.