South (Asia) Park

Apparently divorce among Muslims in Bengal is a cinch, at least for the husband. Just uttering "talaq" three times automatically gets rid of the wife. But what if you inadvertently say the magic word whilst in the REM state? Lack of consciousness it seems is irrelevant. In the nutty world of West Bengal chanting the T-word in your sleep is just as effective. Freud would love these blokes--they understand the concept of repressed desires, you see.

Akhtar says he came home on the night in question last December and took sleeping tablets following a row with his wife.

"I uttered the 'talaq' while I was asleep. I didn't mean it," Akhtar, a worker at a local brick field, told the BBC.

"It's unfair that I'll have to leave my wife for what I said in my sleep and we are being socially boycotted by the villagers because we haven't accepted the verdict of the clerics."

Sobena says: "Enough is enough. We have become a laughing stock. Come what may, I can't stay without my husband."