A case of a Muslim youth giving triple talaq to a Hindu girl after eight years of marriage and pressurizing her for halala has come to light, in Kareli of the Narsinghpur district.
On the complaint of the woman, police have registered a case and started further investigation.
According to the police, the victim Hindu girl had married a man named Farukh in 2014. It was a love marriage. The girl alleged that Farukh deceived her. Earlier, he said he would not force her to change her religion. But soon after the marriage the husband and the in-laws started to exert pressure on her to change her religion, the victim told police.
The victim had alleged that she was also harassed over dowry. She tolerated this all for the sake of her daughters. On March 24, 2022, Farukh divorced her pronouncing ‘talaq’ three times and is now pressurising her for halala to resume married life.
Notably, Nikah halala is a practice in which a woman, after being divorced by triple talaq, marries another man, consummates the marriage, and gets divorced again in order to be able to remarry her former husband.
In her complaint to he police, she alleged that she was forced to offer namaz. When she refused, she was reportedly beaten by her husband and in-laws. “They also forcibly fed me meat. My husband was a hell-raiser. He used to beat me up routinely under the influence of alcohol. My husband also said that both the children were not his. They (Husband and in-laws) didn’t allow them to perform any pooja. When I tried to keep a fast on Navratri, they would bring meat and liquor into the house. I was also asked to eat meat in Navratri. He always threatened me with giving triple Talaq. Farukh’s mother used to say that we will get him married to ten women,” the victim lamented.
Kareli police station in-charge Akhilesh Mishra said that based on the complaint of the 26-year-old woman, a case has been registered under the Religious Freedom Act, Triple Talaq Act, Dowry Harassment, and Atrocity Act. The police have named Farukh along with his family members as accused. Police have arrested one of the accused while the remaining ones are said to be absconding.