Lucknow: Wife likes the latest fashion. On the other hand, the groom is very old-fashioned. It is alleged that the husband gave the wife three divorces because of this different opinion about fashion. Again, the husband divorced his wife on a video call from Saudi Arabia, the wife claimed. 4 years have passed since triple talaq was declared legally prohibited. But, the Muslim women of the country have not yet been freed from the torture of triple talaq, it was proved once again in this incident.
In January 2022, one Salim was married to Gulsayeba, a resident of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. After marriage, Salim started objecting to his wife’s modern fashion. There were quarrels between the husband and wife several times over this. However, Salim works in Saudi Arabia. He crossed over to that country on August 30 this year. Gulsayeba alleged that as soon as her husband left for Saudi Arabia, her in-laws started harassing her for dowry. But, a greater misfortune awaited him.
Salim made a video call to him from Saudi Arabia on October 4. Before that, Gulsayeba cut the hair of the eyebrows into a bow shape. In the video call, his arched eyebrows did not escape Selim’s eyes. Salim immediately started questioning his wife about her new fashion. Gulsayeba clarified that her eyebrow hairs had grown excessively. It was messed up. He didn’t look good at all with those bushy eyebrows. So he took three steps to make himself beautiful.
Salim was angry after hearing his wife’s explanation. According to Gulsayeba’s statement, Salim said to her, “You cut your eyebrows despite my objections? From today I release you from this marriage bond.” Gulsayeba claimed that after that Salim announced divorce three times in a video call. Then, hung up the phone. Gulsayeba tried to contact him many times since then. But, every time he hung up, Salim did not pick up the phone.
After filing a complaint under triple talaq law against her husband at the police station, Gulsayeba said, “We got married just a year ago. My husband disrespected me from the beginning. Now he has divorced me three times. I want the police to take appropriate action against him.” Based on Gulsayeba’s complaint, the Uttar Pradesh police registered an FIR against five others, including her husband Salim, and her mother-in-law.
Incidentally, in August 2017, the Supreme Court declared the practice of ‘triple talaq’ as ‘unconstitutional’. The apex court said that this practice of divorcing a wife by pronouncing the word ‘talaq’ three times violates the fundamental rights of Muslim women. Then, on July 30, 2019, the Modi government enacted the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 amid widespread controversy. According to this law, triple talaq is illegal in India and some consider it a criminal offense.
