Wajid Khan’s wife Kamalrukh Khan on being pressurised to convert by his family: ‘Want to focus on trauma that I have faced’

Late music composer Wajid Khan’s wife, clinical hypnotherapist Kamalrukh Khan, has spoken up about why she has chosen to go public with the pressure she has faced throughout her marriage to convert her religion. Wajid Khan passed away earlier this year of a cardiac arrest and Kamlarukh says now the effort is on to refuse inheritance due to her children.

On Saturday, she had shared a note about being harassed by her in-laws to convert to Islam. She has two children with Wajid -- a 16 years old daughter and a nine-year- old son. In her note, Kamalrukh said that she and Wajid were ‘college sweethearts’ who married under the Special Marriages Act that allowed them to wed while practising their own religions. However, after he and his family exerted pressure on her to change her religion, it caused a rift in her relationship, bringing them to the brink of divorce.

 

Talking to Times of India, Kamalrukh said that she wanted to highlight the trauma she went through in the 17 years of their marriage. “Life has brought me to a point where I need to fight for my children’s due inheritance as his family has usurped his assets post Wajid’s death. I am both father and mother to them, and in practical matters, always have been! My daughter is 16 years and my son is 9 years. I have to pay for their education and our upkeep. I work as a clinical hypnotherapist and our primary source of earning has been Wajid’s marital support. If that too is being snatched away (by those who haven’t bothered to keep in touch with me or my children for the past 7-8 years, on such unfair grounds, I need to fight back on every front. Also my reasons for speaking out is tied to an inherent sense of justice. No woman should have to face what I have faced during these 17 years of marriage,” she said.

Talking about the scare tactics used to pressurise her, Kamalrukh said, “Wajid’s family kept insisting that our children were illegitimate as was our marriage since we had not married as per Muslim law... His mother would openly tell Wajid, in my presence, to re-marry, which he obviously did not agree to do. His family’s behaviour was disrespectful towards me. Wajid’s refusal to budge on his beliefs, his refusal to accept another point of view, and his family’s unnecessary interference and influence ensured that he never stood by my side as a husband should. Another scare tactic was him filing for divorce if I did not convert. Of course, eventually we did not end up getting a divorce as he realised his folly.”