Dinesh Kadam (32) and Begum Khan (26) had met more than a decade back in Vile Parle (W). The neighbours became friends, and friendship promptly turned into love. Khan’s family was opposed to a union and allegedly even held her hostage for several months at her sister’s home in Malad. But all this resistance fell by the wayside and the couple tied the knot on April 30, 2002 after Khan converted to Hinduism.

The honeymoon didn’t last long. In July the same year, Kadam noticed that his wife had begun visiting her parents clandestinely. A month later she said she wanted to stay separately from her husband’s joint family.u00a0Kadam told her this was not possible, as his parents could not take care of his mentally-challenged brother alone.