Awesome or Off-Putting is a weekly delve into cryptozoology, ufology, medical marvels, scientific wonders, secret societies, government conspiracies, cults, ghosts, myths, religion, strange facts or just the plain unexplainable.

This week: Strange Facts

It's the most common story in the world – boy and girl meet, fall madly in love and marry. Boy and girl are living in wedded bliss, cranking out beautiful children together, until the boy says "I divorce thee" three times in his sleep. Then, the society they live in decree them legally divorced because of the sleeping-slip of the tongue, and force the girl to marry another boy for 100 days until she can divorce him and re-marry her original husband.

Movie companies forget it – Disney's already got the rights. They're gonna work it into a Little Mermaid sequel.

Well this story's not new, as far as we can tell it happened around six months ago, but hecklerspray finds itself so taken by it we're passing it on anyway. Aftab Ansari has been ordered by his local government authority to leave his wife Sohela, as he accidentally divorced her by talking in his sleep.  

He said "talaq" three times, which is the equivalent of "I divorce thee", and is apparently legally binding in his Indian town. Even though divorce seems so simple a process in that tiny corner of the world, remarriage after it is the opposite of easy. The solution includes Sohela spending 100 days at her father's home, during which time she must marry another man, and spend the night with him. When the time is up, and the dirty deed's been done, she will be free to divorce hubby #2, and remarry her loose-lipped original.

Sohela's a bit torn up about the whole thing, and has actually threatened suicide over it. Her distress is not, however, enough to soften the hearts of the religious leaders in her town. They've threatened the two to temporarily split, or face social boycott.  Aftab, the sleep-talking husband, said of the matter:

"I think what my society is doing is also not wrong. I think they are doing what they think is right."

He's very open-minded that one – as are we. That's precisely why we're trying to set Sohela up with a good guy. We want to find her someone who will love her, care for her, and stick it to her only once during her 100 day deprivation. 

For society's sake.

Read more: 

Man Got Divorced In His Sleep – Ananova

[story by Shawn Lindseth]