Noida: A 26-year-old woman filed a police complaint against her husband of four months on Tuesday after he sent her a talaq over email, alleging he had done so because she was dark-skinned. The talaq, she claimed, came three days after she told him she was pregnant on December 5.

Sana Yasmin (name changed), who works as a research assistant at a Noidabased pharma firm, said her husband, a software engineer aged around 35, had humiliated her for the colour of her skin from the first day of marriage, and that he had made plain to her his preference for a `fair-skinned' bride.

Her husband, however, said he had given a talaq as Sana suffered from a serious health problem that her family had hidden at the time of marriage. Sana rubbished his claim.

The families came into contact through a wedding portal in March and the wedding happened in Jamshedpur, Sana's home town. They then moved to Bangalore, where her husband is based.“From the start, he was indifferent to me and, on several occasions, verbally abused and slapped me,“ Sana said.

In November, she moved back to Noida to re-join work. “His family saw me before marriage. If he had a problem with the colour of my skin, he should have refused to marry me,“ she said. Unlike Sana's husband, her father-in-law did not contest her claims. “The decision might have been taken in a fit of rage. I will urge him to reconsider,“ he said. But his son said he would not reconsider and was ready for a legal battle if that was what Sana wanted.

Sana's father said the only health problem she has is that she is allergic to dust.“She had complained to us several times about his behaviour,“ he said. Both Sana's parents met Gautam Budh Nagar police chief Kiran S on Tuesday to file a complaint after the women's police station allegedly refused to file a complaint.

Narendree Saini, SHO of the women's police station in Sector 39, said Sana had visited them on Sunday . “We contacted her husband and asked for a meeting. He refused to come to Noida. She had also not decided where to register a complaint,“ she said. “We will register a dowry harassment case when we receive the complaint.“

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