UP: Four booked over ‘triple talaq’ to woman, subjecting her to ‘nikah halala’

PTI, Jul 20, 2023, 4:06 PM IST

An FIR has been registered against four people over alleged ”triple talaq” thrice to a woman in a span of 12 years and subjecting her to ”nikah halala” here, police said on Thursday.

The four included the woman’s husband, her mother-in-law and two other relatives, they said.

The woman, in her complaint to the police, alleged that her husband gave her instant divorce by pronouncing ”talaq” thrice for not meeting the dowry demand of Rs 1 lakh, police said, adding it happened after two years of their marriage.

The husband then forced her to have ”nikah halala” with her brother-in-law, they said.

‘Nikah halala’ refers to a process wherein a Muslim woman can re-marry her first husband after her second husband, whom she had married, gives her divorce after consummation. However, if the intention was that the woman will marry a second man and get divorce from him only to re-marry the first husband, then it is a sin, according to Islamic principles.

The woman told the police that her second husband, the brother-in-law, too gave her instant divorce, only to re-marry the first husband.

On July 4 this year, the first husband again gave her ‘triple talaq’, police said.

When her parents intervened, her first husband threatened them with dire consequences, they said.

On the complaint of the woman, an FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 376D (gangrape), 498A (harassment of a woman to meet an unlawful demand), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (causing intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation) and section 3 and 4 of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act was lodged on Wednesday and investigation is on, Additional Superintendent of Police Nepal Singh said.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 declares the instant divorce granted by pronouncement of ‘talaq’ three times as void and illegal.