Judges & Pontius Pilate

There are times when you have to listen.

My relative G called me on Thursday, around 7:30 pm. She had been at a Family Court that whole afternoon and I knew I had to listen (even though I was in an autorickshaw doing hop-skip-and-jump on the link road between L&T and Powai).

To state her case briefly: she has been in an abusive (physical, mental, etc.) marriage for nearly 22 years, period.

She tried to explain all that to the judge but the judge said that it’s minor stuff. Try it (marriage, not abuse) once again under the supervision of the court, he said.

G asked me what he meant. After getting hit, should I go and show the bruise, she asked. And, what can I show when he tortures me mentally, she cried.

I asked her whether she had explained how her husband had never taken any interest in bringing up the kids.

Yes, she said. When she told the judge that her husband did not know anything about the kids’ education, the judge said that he didn’t know about his kids’ education and such petty affairs either.

I tried to tell her the cliché that the judge is trying to save the marriage at any cost.

Her reply before hanging up was, “Yeah, like Pontius Pilate, the judge can wash his hands and claim to be innocent of the blood that will flow.”