NEW DELHI: A case that began as a complaint under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 has expanded into a serious criminal investigation involving allegations of sexual violence, coercion and child abuse, highlighting the legal and social vulnerabilities faced by women after instant triple talaq.
According to an FIR registered on December 9, 2025 at Said Nagli police station in Amroha district, the woman alleged that after being divorced through instant triple talaq, she was repeatedly pressured by her husband, his relatives and clerics to undergo “halala” so she could be taken back into the marriage.
Halala, under Muslim personal law, allows a divorced couple to remarry if the woman marries another man, consummates that marriage and then divorces him. The complainant alleged that, in practice, this took the form of pre-planned, short-term arrangements meant solely to enable her return to her husband.
In her complaint, the woman said the process amounted to sexual violence. She alleged she was “gang-raped under the false pretext of halala”, with acts carried out through threats, intimidation and coercion.
Police have registered offences under Sections 3 and 4 of the 2019 triple talaq law, along with multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to rape, grievous hurt, criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy. Initially, three people were named as accused — the woman’s husband, his cousin and a hakim (traditional healer). More names were added as the investigation progressed.
Amroha police confirmed the husband’s arrest. “The FIR has been registered on the basis of a written complaint. Further action will depend on corroboration and evidence,” said station house officer Vikas Sahrawat, adding that teams are searching for other accused who are currently absconding.
Investigators have also invoked provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after examining the woman’s age at the time of marriage, significantly widening the scope of the case. This has renewed focus on a long-standing legal grey area: Muslim personal law remains uncodified and does not specify a minimum age of marriage, instead linking marriageability to puberty — an issue on which courts have offered differing interpretations and which remains unsettled at the Supreme Court level.
The FIR details nearly a decade of alleged abuse. The woman told police she was forcibly married in 2015 when she was 15, subjected to instant triple talaq in 2016 and again in 2021, and compelled to undergo three reconciliation attempts through halala. After the first talaq in 2016, she alleged she was told she could only return to her husband after undergoing the halala process, which, according to her complaint, involved sexual assault by an “intermediary”.
In February 2025, she said she was told the process would have to be repeated twice because the marriage had broken down on two previous occasions. After years of single parenthood and financial hardship, she said she again believed assurances that she would be remarried to her husband. “It was after a long time that I realised what had happened to me was wrong,” she was quoted as saying.
The woman, a former student of a leading school in Aligarh, comes from a family with a background in public service — her grandfather was a DSP in the Uttar Pradesh police and her father is a lawyer. With her husband now in custody, she said she is struggling to support herself and her young daughter.
The husband has denied all allegations, claiming he has been harassed and threatened by the woman and her family.
