Bihar probes first ‘triple talaq’ case

Apex court struck down practice saying it was illegal

The first case related to “triple talaq” has been registered with police in Bihar, shortly after India’s top court struck down the practice of instant divorce saying the practice was “void, illegal and unconstitutional”.

Soon after the constitution bench of the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict, Atia Fatima who was allegedly handed the instant divorce by her husband Shammimul Haque, a doctor, two months ago, rushed to the women’s police station in Patna and registered a case.

“We have registered a case and are issuing notice to the accused very soon,” the police station’s officer in-charge Vibha Kumari told journalists yesterday.

The police official said they would do their best to ensure the victim gets justice.

The wedding of Fatima, a resident of Sultanganj locality in Patna city which is part of the state capital, was solemnised with Shammimul on March 16, 2016.

The marriage didn’t last more than a year and, on June 18 this year, she was handed the instant divorce over a trivial issue.

“When I reached my inlaws’ home, I was told to cook food on a handmade hearth using wooden logs as fuel but I refused to do that since I had never done that in the past. I knew how to cook food only on LPG stove,” she said, recounting her tale of woes.

‘Ray of hope’

She said her in-laws continued forcing her to cook food on the hearth and only after that did she return to her parents’ home.

“But, hardly had I reached my parents’ home, my husband called me and divorced me over the phone, uttering triple talaq at one go. I requested him many times to keep me at home but he refused to relent,” she said.

“The Supreme Court judgement has now come as a ray of hope for me. I will fight for justice until my last breath,” she said.