Rape in the name of Nikah Halala

‘Nikah halala' is a practice in which a woman, after triple talaq, marries another man, consummates the marriage, and gets divorced in order to be able to remarry her former husband.

Lucknow, July 25: In a horrific incident that yet brings to fore how the draconian practice of triple talaq is misused to harass women, a woman from the Rampur district in Uttar Pradesh was allegedly raped by four people, including her husband, after she was married off to someone else. All this happened in the name of Nikah halala.

'Nikah halala' is a practice in which a woman, after triple talaq, marries another man, consummates the marriage, and gets divorced in order to be able to remarry her former husband. Right now, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court is going through petitions challenging the age-old practice that many women feel violates their right to equality and justice.

"After my husband gave me triple talaq, I was married off to someone else for 3 months but he later married another woman," the victime told news agancy ANI.

Police have reportedly registered case against 9 people.

Last week, an incident came to fore in which a Muslim woman from Bareilly was given triple talaq twice and was forced to sleep with her father-in-law to facilitate her remarriage to her first husband. The ordeal did not end at that as she was given triple talaq again by her husband after remarriage and was asked to sleep with her brother-in-law in order to consummate her marriage.

Islam dictates that a Muslim man has the liberty to divorce and remarry the same woman twice. However, if he decides to dissolve the marriage for the third time, he can only remarry the same woman if she first marries another man, consummates the marriage, and only if the man dies or willingly asks for divorce, can the woman go back to her first husband and remarry him.