Within a day of Lok Sabha passing the bill that criminalized the practice of pronouncing triple talaq in one go (talaq-e-biddat), report of a person pronouncing the same to his wife has appeared from the Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh. The wife now wants the husband jailed for making her undergo this humiliating and traumatic experience.
According to media reports, a woman Ayesha Khatun has approached local police station after her husband Kasif pronounced triple talaq in one go upon her and abandoned her.
Kasif was already staying away from her in Delhi for over two months and returned to the Kheda Tanda village of Rampur district on Friday night. Ayesha reportedly become quite happy and excited to learn that her husband had returned, but as soon as she opened the door, Kasif said ‘talaq talaq talaq’ to her and went back to Delhi. Ayesha was shocked at this behavior and she reportedly even lost her consciousness due to the trauma.
Ayesha and Kasif were married a little more than two years ago, but Kasif apparently wanted to marry some girl belonging to a rich family. Kasif apparently used to repeatedly taunt Ayesha for being poor and had even talked about divorcing her earlier, but Ayesha used to think that he was being facetious and joking.
Now Ayesha wants Kasif jailed for his deeds. She has complained to the police, who have registered a case against Kasif, his mother, and two others. Police station in-charge has been quoted as saying that the accused will be arrested soon. Incidentally, another Muslim woman a given triple talaq in the same district earlier this week, just because she woke up late.
Although some media reports are saying that this is the first incident of a police case after ‘triple talaq was criminalized’, in all probabilities the police case has been registered under some other sections, for criminalization of triple talaq is yet to become a law (Rajya Sabha needs to pass it, following which President has to approve). Media reports have not specified what sections were invoked by the police.
However, the incident does show that the victims of triple talaq do feel the need for police intervention – something many ‘liberal’ activists don’t seem to realize.
