A 21-year-old Kerala woman from Kasargod was left stunned when her husband, Abdul Razzaq, delivered a WhatsApp message to her father declaring "talaq, talaq, talaq," instantaneously ending the marriage.
Razzaq, who works in the UAE, sent the message on February 21. Triple talaq, a practice by which a Muslim man can divorce his wife by saying "talaq" three times, was held to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2017. Later, in 2019, Parliament passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, criminalizing triple talaq.
Razzaq, too, hails from Kasargod and had married the woman in August 2022 when she was 18. He used to often ask her for money and had taken her to the UAE once earlier, the woman alleged.
Quite often he demanded money and I am amazed by what he did. I feel he has the mindset to doubt me. We want justice and we will go to court," she said.
Her father too corroborated the fact that money had been dispatched to Razzaq and he had documents with him to validate it.
After receiving the money, Razzaq had sent the triple talaq message. There is a protocol for talaq with the involvement of elders and religious persons. This is not the method," he explained.
The funds had been remitted so that Razzaq might bring his wife to the UAE, and in order to collect the amount needed, the woman's gold jewelry was sold. She was supposed to leave for the UAE on February 24, but the divorce message came just a few days prior, on February 21.
The woman's family has since filed a police complaint against Razzaq, alleging deception and fraud.
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