Decades after the Shah Bano case stirred a nationwide debate on sharia law in the context of Muslim women's rights, a 47-year-old woman was orally divorced through “triple talaq” by none other than a sitting judge of a district court here.

talaq” by none other than a sitting

of a district court here.

An angry Afsha Khan has shot off letters to the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court after

’s additional district Judge, 59-year-old Mohd Zaheeruddin Siddiqui, pronounced the ‘

talaq’ in a fit of anger. Afsha has said in her plea that injustice has been done by a person "who is entrusted with the responsibility to procure justice for all".

Alleging that she was also tortured by the judge and his family members, Afsha has sought that they should be put behind bars to give "a right message" to society.

When TOI contacted Siddiqui about his “oral

talaq” and allegations levelled against him, he said, “We could not reach a compromise, so according to sharia I gave her divorce.”

Last year, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) had said that there was no scope of change in the ‘

talaq’ system. It had also rejected the suggestion by some Muslim outfits to build a consensus on making a three-month 'notice period' mandatory before finalisation of divorce. “Though as per Quran and Hadith, ‘triple

talaq’

is a crime, but once uttered the process would be considered complete and cannot be changed,” AIMPLB spokesman Maulana Abdul Raheem Qureshi had said then.

In 1986, the Rajiv Gandhi government passed a law to overturn the Supreme Court’s Shah Bano verdict that had granted Muslim women lifelong alimony rights with conditions. The Aligarh matter came to the light when Afsha reached out to Maria Alam Umar, a rights activist, with a copy of the letters she had sent to the

and the Allahabad

justice.

Umar said that the woman has no option left.

“The whole case, in which a judge is perpetuating such an invalid way of divorcing his wife, needs to be brought to light and I will make sure she goes back home because the woman does not want to be separated from her husband. The family is without any help because they don't know if this divorce is valid.”

Afsha's ‘niqah’ with Siddiqui was solemnized on August 16, 2015 at Hotel Palm Tree, Marris Road, Aligarh. "The marriage was attended by all family members including my husband’s sons (from first wife) and others,” Afsha said in the letter. She has further alleged that she was threatened. The judge, according to her, said, “You know my status, I am not an ordinary man, so don’t you dare take any further step or else you, your brother and other family members should be ready for the consequences.”

Letters have not just gone out to CJI H L Dattu and CJ of Allahabad High Court Mateen Ahmad, but also to the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad HC and district judge, Aligarh.

Zakia Soman, from Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, said, “This divorce is invalid. She is not divorced. The woman can go to the qazi for help, and go back home if she wants to stay with her husband. We have been demanding reformation in personal law for the same reason – oral talq is not in accordance with the Quran."

ALIGARH: Decades after the Shah Bano case stirred a nationwide debate on sharia law in the context of Muslim women's rights, a 47-year-old woman was orally divorced through “triple