Afreen Rehman got married in 2014.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
A 25-year-old woman from Jaipur, Rajasthan has moved the Supreme Court challenging the ‘triple talaq’ system in the Muslim community.
Afreen Rehman decided to fight the age-old system after having received a letter from her husband through speed post stating that he divorced her, reported The Times of India.
‘Talaq-e-bidat’ is a term for a Muslim man divorcing his wife by pronouncing more than one talaq in a single tuhr (the period between two menstruations), or in a tuhr after coitus, or pronouncing an irrevocable instantaneous divorce at one go (unilateral triple-talaq).
“I got married in 2014 through a matrimonial portal. After two to three months, my in-laws started mentally harassing me by demanding dowry,” Afreen Rehman told Times of India.
“Later, they started beating me up and asked me to leave. I came to my maternal home and now I have received speed post announcing divorce. This is completely wrong, unfair and unacceptable. I have filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking its intervention into the matter,” she added.
Another woman named Shayara Bano has filed a case in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of Section 2 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 that permits triple talaq and polygamy.
Bano has also demanded the dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 citing that the law doesn’t protect Muslim women from bigamy.
All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) President Shaista Ambar has also demanded the abolition of triple talaq system.
The central government has set-up a high-level committee to study the status of women in the country. The committee also has recommended the abolition of the custom.