Saharanpur/New Delhi: A letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi written by a pregnant woman who was abandoned by her husband and in-laws has brought the triple talaq controversy back into focus.

The woman, Shagufta, has claimed her in-laws were pressurising her to go for abortion, while her husband had verbally divorced her over the issue and threw her out of the house.

The mother of two girls has written to Prime Minister Modi and sent a copy of the letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

In her letter, Shagufta said she was married to Shamshad, the resident of Budhakheda village, five years ago. They had two daughters which had angered her in-laws who wanted her to abort her three-month-old foetus, fearing she may again give birth to a girl.

She claimed that she was assaulted by her in-laws and husband, who gave her 'triple talaq' (verbal divorce) after which she was left on road to die. Shamshad had also hit her on the stomach in an attempt to kill the foetus, she has claimed in her letter.

Triple talaq is a Sharia law that gives a man the right to end the marriage by verbally saying 'Talaq' thrice to his wife.

She has urged the Prime Minister to soon bring to end the triple talaq tradition and alleged that when she went to Nanauta police station her complaint was not registered.

It was only after she wrote to the PM and the CM and the issue got highlighted by the media that the police filed an FIR in the case on Wednesday.

Commenting on the issue on Thursday, SQR Illyas, member of the Working Committee of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said, “AIMPLB also has women members. The issue has been blown out of proportion. Talaq is not common and is discouraged in Islam. The husband cannot force a woman to do un-Islamic things.”

Zakia Soman, co-founder of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, told CNN-News18: “It is high time that Triple Talaq is abolished.”

(With PTI inputs)

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