Triple Talaq on WhatsApp message: Police files charges against a 28-year-old man in Maharashtra

Police have finally registered a case against a 28-year-old man and his parents near Mumbai after he allegedly divorced his physically-disabled wife by sending a 'triple talaq' message on WhatsApp.

Recently, a woman from Maharashtra's Thane district reached out to Police seeking their help after her husband allegedly sent her a ‘triple talaq’ message on her WhatsApp. She also alleged that her in-laws constantly harassed her and sometime back, her husband demanded Rs 5 lakh from her and threw her out of the house.

Based on the woman's complaint, the police registered a case on Wednesday against her husband Nadeem Shaikh and in-laws under IPC Sections 498-A (cruelty), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 504 (intentional insult with an intent to provoke breach of peace), and the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act.

READ | Husband sends ‘Triple Talaq’ message to his wife on WhatsApp, Police receives complaint

The woman alleged in her complaint that she recently received the 'triple talaq' message on WhatsApp from her husband. When she tried to call him, he refused to speak to her. Bhoiwada police station's senior inspector Kalyan Karpe said the woman approached the police with her complaint, saying she does not want to divorce her husband.

The woman said in her complaint said she got married to a man from Kalyan town in 2014. She is currently staying at her parent's place in Bhiwandi. However, this is clearly not the first such an incident has happened. Last year, a 29-year-old woman from Hyderabad alleged that her 63-year-old husband gave her 'Triple Talaq' on WhatsApp.

The Supreme Court in August 2017 ruled that the practice of divorce through triple talaq was "void", "illegal" and "unconstitutional."

READ | WhatsApp security breach concerns 1.5 billion users, How to keep your WhatsApp up-to-date

The Supreme Court called the practice "unconstitutional" and backed the government, which had said, "triple talaq" violates the fundamental rights of women. Several women who have been divorced because of it, including on Skype and on WhatsApp, had appealed to the Supreme Court to end the practice.

Out of the bench of five judges, three judges had termed Triple Talaq while the other two suggested six months ban on the practice till the government introduces new legislation.

(With agency inputs)