Bhubaneswar: Clutching her four-month-old daughter in her arms, a distraught Rubina Khatun came to a police station in Odisha’s Kendrapara district to lodge an FIR against her husband for pronouncing triple talaq to her.
Khatun, 24, said her husband Abu Sufiyan Khan uttered talaq three times over the phone from Hyderabad, after her parents were unable to pay Rs 2 lakh as dowry that he was demanding.
This is the first case of triple talaq in Odisha after the practice of instant divorce was outlawed on August 1. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights in Marriage) Bill, which was passed by the Parliament, prescribes up to three years imprisonment for Muslim men giving instant triple talaq to their wives.
“Ours was a love marriage and initially, his family was not in favour of it. After being in love for seven years, we finally got married in court a year and a half ago. Now, after our first child was born four months ago, he has suddenly pronounced triple talaq to me,” said Khatun outside Pattamundai police station after lodging an FIR against her husband.
Abu Sufiyan Khan, a resident of ward No. 11 in Pattamundai town, lives in Hyderabad, where he works as a chef in a hotel. Soon after marrying Khatun, who is also from the same area in Pattamundai, he took her to Hyderabad, where they lived for over six months.
After Khatun got pregnant, Khan brought her to his house in Pattamundai, and left for Hyderabad. When her in-laws did not pay attention to her medical needs, he asked her to go to her parents’ house and return after delivery.
“After giving birth to my daughter, I kept asking him to take me to Hyderabad or to let me live at his parents’ house in Pattamundai. He refused to do so and kept asking me to bring Rs 2 lakh from my parents’ house as dowry. I always told him my poor parents cannot give such a big amount. He then finally divorced me over phone,” said Khatun, who was accompanied by her mother, Atarun Bibi.
Khatun brought the matter before the village committee, but they refused to help. “Now, they are asking me to take Rs 2.30 lakh, withdraw the FIR against my husband and live separately,” she said.
“We have registered a case (261/19) under Sections 498 A, 307 and 506 of the IPC. A probe is on,” said Pattamundai police station officer-in-charge Rakesh Tripathy.
Khatun said she wants her husband to withdraw the divorce and let her and her child live with him. “I want to have a proper family life and ensure our daughter gets the love of both parents. I want my daughter to study and become an achiever,” she said.
(With inputs from Kailash Chandra Sahoo)
Comments
0 comment