A woman filed a complaint with the Moghulpura police in Hyderabad against her husband and in-laws after she was divorced over Whatsapp by her US-based husband.
Mahreen Noor, 20, married Usman Qureishi, 25, in 2015. Usman, who works as a senior analyst at Seven Heaven Medical Agency, spent some time with her and went to New York. Mahreen had been staying with her in-laws at Moghupura since then.
In the last week on February, she received a message on Whatsapp from Usman saying, Talaq Talaq Talaq.
What’s worse, her in-laws forced her to leave the house, reports The Times of India.
Shockingly, Mahreen’s sister-in-law Heena Fatima, who is married to Usman’s elder brother Syed Fayazuddin, was divorced in a similar way six months ago. Fayazuddin too lives in New York and Heena had filed a police complaint against him after the divorce.
As per an ANI report, the two women staged a protest outside their in-laws’ house recently and were pushed out by their father-in-law.
Meanwhile, police have booked Usman, his parents Abdul Hafeez and,Atiya Khulsum and their daughter Sabina Sultana for subjecting a married woman to cruelty. Moghulpura inspector R Devender told TOI that talaq on Whatsapp is not valid.
Triple Talaq – a contentious issue
The issue of triple talaq has of late been a matter of debate after several women filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking the quashing of this practice. The Central Government has also told the top court that it is against gender injustice and for equality between men and women under the Constitution.
However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has defended the practice, saying it is better to divorce a woman than kill her.