Tehelka: Your name?
Rakesh: Rakesh Sharma.
Tehelka: Rakeshji, we have come to know from the Agra mental asylum — from Dr SK Gupta — that you have got a certificate for your wife. How did you get it issued?
Rakesh: See, I am a taxi driver. We meet all kinds of people. Every time I got home late, my wife used to suspect me; used to say, “Lord knows where you disappear at nights.” Once I was sitting harried in my taxi, when doctor sahab met me and asked me what my trouble was.
Tehelka: So, he was travelling in your vehicle?
Rakesh: Yes, I was travelling on the Agra-Mathura road when he came and sat beside me in front. He asked me why I was troubled…He asked me to visit him, and said he would solve all my problems. He gave me the address of the Agra mental asylum. Some days later, when I had some free time, I went to visit him. Doctor sahab said he could declare my wife mentally unstable. I asked him how. He suggested I could file a case against my wife and prove her mentally unstable. “I will give you a certificate to prove this and, if the need arises, will also testify in the courts. You can divorce her.”
Tehelka: Did he also mention testifying in courts?
Rakesh: Yes, he said he would testify in courts. A few days later, I met him at his house. He asked me if I wanted to go ahead and I said yes. He asked me if I was willing to spend some money for it. When I asked him how much, he answered Rs 5,000. The next day I paid him the money and got the certificate in return. Then I filed a case in the courts, doctor sahab testified, and I got divorced.
Tehelka: When was this?
Rakesh: This happened in 2002.
Tehelka: When did you get married?
Rakesh: We got divorced two years after our marriage.
Tehelka: Didn’t your wive’s family raise any objections?
Rakesh: What could the in-laws do once I had submitted a certificate of mental disorder in the courts?
Tehelka: Have you remarried?
Rakesh: No, but now I am thinking about it. Why are you asking so many questions?
Tehelka: I also want a certificate made
Rakesh: Why don’t you take my certificate from me and meet Gupta. The certificate has his address written on it.