As many as 216 FIRs have been filed by Muslim women against their husbands in the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) alone since the enactment of the law making the practice of instant triple talaq a punishable offence, reports Hindu BusinessLine.

The highest number of such cases have been filed in the Meerut district where the figure stands at 26, followed by Saharanpur and Shamli with 17 and 10 FIRs respectively. All these places in the Western UP have a sizable Muslim population.

“In UP, women given triple talaq are coming out in large numbers to register FIRs against their husbands. Within three weeks (till August 21) of implementation of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, as many as 216 FIRs have been filed in the state so far,” a senior police official was quoted in the report as saying.

In the eastern UP, the highest number of 10 FIRs were registered in Varanasi, which is the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, except in two-three cases, the police has not made any arrests in more than 200 of the cases lodged.

“To ensure that the Act is followed in letter and spirit and justice is given to Muslim women, we are examining as to why we should not arrest those involved in giving triple talaq. We will be doing that in some districts,” Director General of UP Police OP Singh said.