July 12, 2011: Australian Man Divorced From Forced Marriage

By April Lopez

A man has been given his freedom after a judge granted his divorce petition, following his claims that he was forced into the marriage by his girlfriend.

The man said, he only agreed on the marriage after his girlfriend promised that she would have the baby aborted after the marriage.

According to the judge, the man was “under duress” at that time

The couple had an on and off relationship for six years starting 2004 and lived together for six months in 2008.

The man appertained to a part in the Marriage Act which states that the union "is void in circumstances where the consent of either (person) is not a consent freely given as it was obtained under duress."

He added that he already wanted a break up before the marriage. However, his girlfriend broke the news that she was pregnant with his child. He told his girlfriend he wasn’t ready for marriage but she said, “Well, I'm not terminating the pregnancy unless we get married'."

They were married two months later and after a while, his girlfriend told him she had the abortion. They broke up on Christmas Day. Neither of them told their parents about the marriage.

At the court hearing, the woman didn’t give any evidence.

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