Indian man ‘divorces wife with text message after she was gang raped’

The woman received a text message saying 'talaq' or 'I divorce you' three times

Alexandra Sims
Friday 27 November 2015 15:29 GMT
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Sharia law states men can divorce their wives instantly by repeating the word “talaq”, or “I divorce you”, to her three times
Sharia law states men can divorce their wives instantly by repeating the word “talaq”, or “I divorce you”, to her three times

An Indian woman has allegedly been divorced by her husband by text message after confessing to being gang raped.

The woman, who remains unnamed, said she received a message saying “talaq” three times after telling her husband about the incident, according to The Daily Mail.

Sharia law states men can divorce their wives instantly by repeating the word “talaq”, or “I divorce you”, to her three times.

Many Islamic scholars believe the word must be pronounced on three separate occasions, spread over three months, and accompanied by efforts at reconciliation to constitute a divorce.

However, cases of the word being repeated three times in one sitting, have been “legally recognized”, according to Natana J Deloing-Bas, author of Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad.

An Indian Muslim girl stands with a poster denouncing Talaq on International Women's Day in Bombay Getty

The 25-year-old woman claimed she was evicted from her home after receiving the message, which ended her five year marriage to a Dubai-based construction worker.

Her 70-year-old mother-in-law, who she lived with, has supposedly taken custody of her four year old son, according to reports.

The woman claims the rape was committed by a group of neighbours.

The woman told The Mail Online: ‘I felt violated. I thought that he would stand by my side through this, to help me through the pain of it.

‘But I was wrong. He took the easiest way out like a coward and divorced me with text message."

It is understood the woman has since moved back to her parent's home in Meerut, north India.

A government committee, created in 2013 to look into Indian women’s status, has recommended the government should outlaw triple talaq.

A report by the committee, released last month and cited by The Guardian, says the custom “makes wives extremely vulnerable and insecure regarding their marital status”.

Women’s rights groups in India have long called for a ban on the practise of triple talaq.

Indian studentsparticipate in an anti-rape protest in Hyderabad Getty

In a recent letter to the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the Indian Muslim women’s welfare movement, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, claimed the convention denied Muslim women their Quranic rights.

They added the ban was necessary to secure equality and dignity to Muslim women.

Triple talaq is still recognised in Indian law as the country does not have a uniform civil code that applies to all citizens. Rather, each religious community has its own laws governing marriage and divorce, thus Muslims are allowed to follow Sharia.

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