Gujarat man booked for giving triple talaq to wife on WhatsApp

A man in Gujarat's Valsad district has been booked for allegedly giving triple talaq, prohibited by law, to his wife through a WhatsApp message, police said on Monday.

An official identified the accused as Jailun Javed Kalia (27) and said he has sent the divorce message to his father Javed Kalia a few days ago.

"The victim, a 25-year-old woman now residing with her parents in Umargam town in Valsad, filed a complaint on Sunday. Jailun, a resident of Sanjan, works in a shipping firm and is currently abroad," said Inspector P M Parmar of Umargam police station.

"Upon getting the divorce message from his son, Javed Kalia took a print-out and approached a cleric to formalise the separation," he said.

The cleric informed the victim's parents, who, along with their daughter, approached the police.

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The couple were married four years ago and have a three-year-old son, he said, adding that the victim has complained that she was tortured in her marital house.

"The woman has alleged that her husband and in-laws wanted her to give her 3-year-old son to Jailun's sister who is childless after eight years of marriage. She said she was tortured when she refused and was sent back to her parents' home," Parmar said.

Jailun, his father Javed and mother Nafisa have been booked under relevant sections of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, which criminalises this form of divorce, as well as section 498a (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code.

Parmar said statements of Kalia family and the cleric have been recorded but no arrests have been made as yet.

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