Man beats wife, drops 'Triple Talaq' chit at her mother's home for divorce

Javed Khan and his wifeThree words presumably scribbled on a sheet of paper have shattered Rukshanas name changed world Amidst a highpitched debate on the controversial practice of triple talaq in Muslim Personal Law the 29yearolds husband has allegedly divorced her via a note flung at her While two aalims Muslim scholars say the divorce is not valid a muftis a Muslim legal expert empowered to give rulings on religious matters fatwa states otherwiseAlso read Woman claims spouse sent triple talaq for not giving dowryKhan a resident of Mira Road and Rukshana married in October 2009 Within days of the nuptials Rukshanas motherinlaw allegedly began beating her up every day Despite interventions from relatives over the years she found no respiteThe sheet of paperHad enough of itIn August last year after a particularly nasty thrashing Ruskhana questioned Khans silence over the alleged abuse She resolved to approach the police or an NGO by herself if he chose to stay quiet Moved Khan then accompanied her to the police station where she showed the wounds she allegedly sustained at the hands of her motherinlaw The police directed the couple to first go for a medical test which Khan resisted He implored the police to talk to his mother instead The police refused to do so and filed a noncognisable offence in the matterKhan thereafter dropped Rukshana at her mothers house in Govandi assuring her that he would return for her soon But he allegedly kept coming up with excuses to take her back to his house over months Rukshanas brother tried to broker peace in the interim but the meeting turned into a shouting match between him and KhanThe talaqOn February 18 this year Khan paid a visit to Rukshana during which he allegedly hit her told her that he wanted nothing more to do with her and threw a chit at her The family then rushed to the aid of a bleeding Rukshana and no one noticed the sheet of paperThe next day he called us up and asked if we had seen the chit I asked him what he was referring to but he said he had written all that he wanted to say I told him I hadnt found any chit and asked him to come over for a talk said Rukshanas father We figured he had written talaq talaq talaq on the chit We couldnt find the sheet of paper as the house had been left in a disarray during the fight He sent us a photo of the chitAlso read Talaq code of conduct coming soon says Muslim Law BoardThe family immediately consulted two aalim Muslim scholars trained in Islam and Islamic law who told them a divorce cannot be granted this way They said both were still married to each other said the fatherAfter Khan learnt of the consultation with the aalim he stayed at Rukshanas house for dinner and returned to his home saying his mother was ill Rukshana wanted to accompany him back to her marital home but Khan assured her that he would return the next day to pick her up Over the next five days he allegedly kept coming up with excuses against taking her homeValid says muftiExasperated Rukshana planned to return on her own On learning of this Khan called her up to argue that his talaq via paper was valid He claimed that he had consulted a mufti Muslim legal expert empowered to give rulings on religious matters Ashraf Raza Qadri affiliated with Mufti Qazi Idarah Sharia Maharashtra based in Nagpada who had issued a fatwa a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a recognised authority that the talaq was valid In his fatwa the mufti called the triple talaq haraam and a gunah sin but claimed that it was nevertheless validRukshanas family visited the mufti who reiterated the validity of the divorce When he told him that we had retrieved the chit he said regardless of whether we received it the husband had passed it on and therefore the talaq was valid We have been told by another mufti to get a fatwa from DargaheAla Hazrat the most revered shrine for followers of the Barelvi Sunni sect from Bareilly to resolve this said Rukshanas fatherAlso read Its over Man divorces Hyderabadbased wife through newspaper adHer mother sought a reconciliation instead of jumping to a talaq Around 3000 people had come for the nikah and today he is divorcing her in this way If there is a problem we can sit and talk about it she saidThe father said he is in talks with a lawyer to file a petition in court against the talaqNot so say lawyersNoted family court lawyer Kranti Sathe pointed out that since Rukshana didnt receive the chit in hand she is still the wife legally and can go stay with him Triple talaq is unconstitutional and sub judice before the Supreme CourtRenowned lawyer Mrunalini Deshmukh clarified that it wasnt a valid divorce An order by the Bombay High Court on Sharia law states that the divorce process should be held over a threemonth period The husband has to first give a notice to the wife either by himself or through a lawyer As for the mufti claiming that the talaq is valid muftis have distorted the law Throwing a chit or sending a message through WhatsApp in the not the way to get a divorceFamily court lawyer Anagha Nimbkar echoed the unconstitutionality of the practice The practice to granting talaq through SMSemailletter should be bannedZakia Soman Mumbaibased cofounder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan BMMA said the chit is among some of the horrible and adhoc ways in which triple talaq is being misusedAlso read Triple talaq is cruel Allahabad High CourtShe said the BMMA is against triple talaq per se because nobody should have the unilateral right to divorce There should be mutual discussions and the couple must be given a chance for reconciliation All this should happen over a period of timeEither way she points out the woman is entitled to maintenance support and a homeDespite several attempts Khan was not available for commentWith inputs from Hemal Ashar