Indians can get divorced even by WhatsApp by repeating a word 3 times
The Sharia law - the name given to Islamic law - has several very controversial clauses even among followers of that religion. One, which allows for instant separation, is frowned upon by almost all Muslim countries, but is still in force in India. For this, man - and only he - must utter the word “talaq” three times in a row, which can be translated as “divorce” to declare himself divorced.
This has recently become a police case when two women complained of their husbands, who are brothers, for doing so through WhatsApp. The triple talaq allows them to drive women out of the house as soon as the “magic words” are spoken, for no apparent reason for that - just the man wants to.
Data show that more and more Indians are using technological means to reaffirm this separation. According to the Sharia, the woman need not even be present when the words are spoken; therefore, if the husband says "talaq, talaq, talaq", the separation is complete. This created a state of constant tension between wives, afraid to hear it for any slip.
“Better to separate than to kill”
Syed Heena Fatima and Mehreen Noo, residents of Hyderabad, north of the country, were married to brothers Syed Fayazuddin Hussaini and Mohd Abdul Akheel. The men were transferred to the United States to work and took advantage of Uncle Sam's freedom to apply the triple talaq by WhatsApp.
Syed was sentenced 6 months ago, while Mehreen was expelled from her marriage a few days ago. As a result, they were expelled from their in-laws' house and decided to protest and complain about their ex-husbands. “My husband put 'talaq talaq talaq' as his WhatsApp display image and wrote to me saying it was all over, ” Mehreen says.
Syed's biggest complaint is about his children. “Charia allows you to divorce me, but who will take care of our children? Doesn't the sharia ask you to take care of your children? ”Says the woman. To make matters worse, the triple talaq still exempts husbands from paying 1/3 of their wages as alimony, which would happen under traditional Indian laws.
In 2016, several women tried to petition the country's Supreme Court to have the triple talaq rule revoked. Although the government agrees that there should be gender equality in the country, the rule remains in force. India's Muslim Personal Law Council defends the practice on the grounds that it is better for a man to do this than to kill a woman. It's easy?
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