Twitter
Advertisement

Triple Talaq: How the verdict changed the life of this mother of two

Calling it unconstitutional, a five-judge Supreme Court bench has stayed instant triple talaq asking Parliament to bring legislation within six months.

Latest News
article-main
Media personnel outside the Supreme Court before the verdict on triple talaq in New Delhi on Tuesday.
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

For the diminutive Shayara Bano, Tuesday was a day that would be etched in her memory forever, irrespective of which way it would have ended. But when the 5-member constitutional bench at the Supreme Court voted to set aside triple talaq, the 39-year-old heaved a sigh of relief. 

“The first thing that crossed my mind was that I will now be able to meet my children,” said the soft-spoken Shayara. Ever since her husband, Allahabad-based property dealer Rizwan Ahmed sent her a letter with ‘talaq’ written on it twice while she was at her mother’s place, she has not met her two children -- 14-year-old Irfan and 13-year-old Muskan. 

Shayara, a resident of Kashipur, was married off to Rizwan in 2002. Theirs was a marriage that brought about unspeakable horrors for her. Dowry demands and torture was routine. “I don’t remember the number of abortions that I had to undergo,” she says. 

In fact, when Rizwan sent the letter to Shayara’s father on the pretext of sending some property letters, she was recuperating from the string of abortions. Her brother Arshad says that for the longest time, she was unable to string her thoughts, and spoke very less. 

When she was back on her feet, it was Arshad who asked her to pick up the fight. He said that the family will stand by her, no matter what the consequences will be. Arshad said that he has egged his sister to sign up for an MBA course, to be fully independent. 

And on Tuesday, he was there standing by her side, taking her to the Supreme Court and to the several news studios thereafter. 

Shayara says that when she moved the Supreme Court to challenge triple talaq, she knew that the fight that lay ahead will help several other Muslim women more than her. In her petition, Shayara also sought to outlaw the concept of nikah-halala and of polygamy.  

When the judgement was finally pronounced, Shayara said: “I have been waiting for this verdict for a long time, and I’m happy that this will affect the lives of the thousands of Muslim women in the country.” 

After he sent her out of home, Rizwan married another woman, says Shayara. “So unlike some of the other petitioners, there is no way I will walk back into that house. I simply want to meet my children; one fight might have ended, another is about to begin,” she said. 

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement