Police in Uttar Pradesh have booked a man with his son and two clerics after a Muslim woman alleged that she was forced to marry her father-in-law, who raped her on the pretext of a religious ritual.
According to the woman, she was forced to marry her father-in-law under a ritual, known as nikah halala, which has no relevance in Islam.
The cops have arrested the father-in-law, the Muslim woman’s husband, two unidentified clerics and the her husband’s uncle. Quoting Bareilly Zone additional director general of police Prem Prakash, a report b y PTI said that the woman, a resident of Moradabad district, had got married to a resident of Turtipura under the Nakhasa police station on 7 December, 2014.
Prakash was quoted as saying, “The woman alleged that she was thrown out of her in-laws’ house on December 25, 2015. Following this, the woman registered a case against her in-laws on January 3, 2016, for harassing her. However, on 24 December, 2016, both the sides reached an agreement and she went back to her in-laws’ house.”
The complaint filed by the woman said that her husband, his father, uncle and two clerics said that she had automatically been divorced since she was out of the house for so long. They allegedly told her that a fresh nikah will have to be performed but for that the woman must marry her father-in-law.
The woman said that she expressed her displeasure over the suggestion, but they did not pay heed to her objections. Later, her father-in-law locked her inside a room and raped her, said the complaint filed by the woman.
The next morning, added the complaint, the father-in-law divorced her. The woman said that she was then raped by her husband and she became pregnant, On 6 October 2017, she gave birth to a baby.
The victim has also alleged that she had submitted an application in this regard with the district magistrate, following which she and her family were receiving death threats from her husband and a few clerics.
The ADGP said, “A case of gang-rape has been registered against the woman’s husband, father-in-law, uncle-in-law and two unknown clerics.”
“The case was registered on Saturday (September 1), and investigations are underway,” the senior police officer said.