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BAREILLY: A 35-year-old woman who has been given triple talaq in three of her past marriages is terrified that her fourth husband too would leave her in a similar way. "The past 12 years have been a nightmare for me," she said. "I have nowhere to go if this happens again."

The first marriage of Tara Khan, who is an illiterate woman, was with Zahid Khan, a resident of Tahaka Nagaria village in Bareilly. “As we never had kids in seven years of marriage, my husband married a younger woman and gave me triple talaq ,” said Tara.

When her first marriage ended, she started living at the house of her relatives. Her aunt fixed her second marriage with Pappu Khan of nearby Ghunsa village. “Pappu would often assault me. One day when I resisted, he uttered the dreaded words and left me,” said Tara, whose second marriage ended in three years.

After divorce, the woman shifted to the house of her maternal uncle. “My cousin and uncle asked me to remarry, claiming that I have a long life to live and I need a partner. On their persuasion, I married Sonu of Ghundapur. But as luck would have it, Sonu, too, turned out to be a violent wife-beater . One day he beat me up and left me at the house of my uncle. Just at the gate, before he turned to leave, Sonu gave me triple talaq,” said Tara, recalling her 12 years of struggle. Her third marriage could survive only four months.

Though she was initially reluctant to marry a fourth time, her family managed to convince her to remarry. She entered into matrimony with Shamshad alias Nanhe in July last year. “Things have got very bad for me now and I am terrified that I will be on the roads if Shamshad leaves me. My five brothers who believe that I have brought embarrassment to the family do not want to keep me either. I do not want this marriage to end, come what may. But Shamshad behaves like the others. Where does a Muslim woman go? I have had enough trouble in the last 12 years and I cannot fight anyone or anything anymore." Tara said, tears rolling down her face.

Tara and Shamshad have been going to a family counselling centre at Police Lines in Bareilly. “If need arises, I will take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath. I want my husband to keep me with him.”

Khalil Qadri, counsellor at the family centre, said, “We are trying to unite Shamshad and Tara by sorting out their differences and would not let them divorce.”

When contacted, Shamshad said, “I am in Badaun and cannot comment about the matter now.”

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