Disgusted with triple talaq, she accepts Hindu Dharma, marries a Hindu man

Pilibhit (UP), May 25: The Central Government ordinance on Triple Talaq notwithstanding, the instances of divorce due to instant triple talaq still galore in the society forcing a number of Muslim women to lead a dangerously risky life. However, there are a few women who showed courage to counter this and found their own ways to get rid of that hell of life.

One such case has come to fore. In Uttar Pradesh a 29-year-old Muslim woman who was divorced by her husband using the instant triple talaq, has decided to quit Islam and accept Hindu Dharma and marry a Hindu man.

Reshma (29) from Pilibhit in UP, changed her religion and name to Rani Rathod and married a Hindu man. But the newlywed couple is facing threats and sought police protection.

Reshma’s earlier husband divorced her through instant triple talaq on April 5, 2019. But her ordeal did not end there. According to her tale, she was molested by her husband and his family members and they threw her out on the streets to fend for herself. Her family tried to patch up the matter but the husband’s family put heavy terms and conditions with reference to Sharia law and she was told to perform ‘halala’.

(Nikah halala is a practice in which a woman, after being divorced through triple talaq, is forced to marry another man, consummate the marriage, and get divorced again in order to be able to remarry her original husband).

After this talaq, she came in contact with Deepak and both decided to marry. Reshma decided to accept Hindu Dharma at Ram Janaki Tempple as per Vedic rituals and changed her name to Rani.

Narrating her story she said that she was married to M Raees at Naugaon Pakdiya. She had a daughter of two years from him. But her husband had not given the daughter’s custody to Reshma. His family is not ready to part with the little one.

Muslim women are still under the threat of the inhuman, outdated rituals like triple talaq and halala. There are very few like Reshma who found out their way out of this hell either by way of accepting Hindu Dharma or marrying a Hindu man. But there are many such ‘Reshmas” whose future hangs in a very delicate balance. Though the Central Government had passed ab ordinance on triple talaq, the million-dollar question remains unanswered. And that question is: Are these “Reshmas” going to get their rights to save them from the hell of triple talaq?