AIMPLB downplays Halala' victim's tale of woe

Lucknow: After triple talaq, it is the 'halala' practice that is grabbing headlines. A 'halala' victim from Bareilly, Shabina, has now come forward to narrate her tale of woe.

Shabina is a victim of multiple divorces and multiple 'halala' and when she finally revolted against the practice, she and her family received death threats.

Narrating her ordeal before a select group of mediapersons in Bareilly, Shabina said that her husband gave her triple talaq over a trivial issue and then forced her to marry her father-in-law and consummate the marriage as part of 'halala'. Her father-in-law later divorced her so that she could remarry her husband.

“My ordeal did not end here. My husband again gave me triple talaq and this time, he made me marry my brother-in-law but I put my foot down and left the house. I approached Nida Khan, also a triple talaq victim, for help and we decided to approach the media,” she said.

Shabina has now lodged a case in the local police station against five individuals after receiving death threats.

SP (City) Abhinandan Singh said that a case has been registered. “The orders for investigation have been given and action will be taken after the investigations are over,” he said. However, Bareilly’s Shaher Imam, Mufti Khurshid Alam, downplayed the issue and said that those raising their voices against Shariat law and , particularly,  'halala' are doing so to gain media attention.

“We do not need to throw anyone out of Islam because people who speak against Shariat are automatically considered out of Islam,” he added.

The All India Muslim Personal law Board secretary Zafaryab Jilani, said, “The practice of ‘halala’ has been mentioned in Quran and is, therefore, not unIslamic. Some people may be abusing the practice. We don’t know if it’s being misused.”