Srinagar, Oct. 4 -- Arman's family thought they had found the perfect daughter-in-law in Rukhsar. They wanted warmth, kindness, and peace in their home. Money and status meant little. Her gentle manners promised loyalty, but behind her smile, a different story waited.

Arman had stepped into marriage with hope and faith. He imagined mornings full of laughter and evenings calm and gentle. When the children came, every smile and sigh felt like proof that life was whole. He held their little hands and listened to their voices fill the house. For a while, he believed happiness had truly arrived.

But that happiness did not last. Smiles grew careful, and the gentle care he once knew turned distant.

At first, Arman excused the distance as ord...