Bearing the torture and abuses all her life a Muslim woman, Shehnaz embraces Sanatan Dharma in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly, saying Krishna Bhakti gives her hope. Shehnaz became Arohi and got married to her friend Pawan at Agastya Muni Ashram.
Shehbnaz is a victim of instant triple talaq and the reason behind this Talaq is somewhat different from just an abusive relationship. Shehnaz is a devout Krishna Bhakt and since childhood, she is devoted to Bhagwan Krishna, even after marriage she continued this practice and this triggered her Muslim husband.
He asked her to stop but when she did not stop the husband gave ‘Triple Talaq’.
Shehnaaz and Pawan are both residents of Dhakni Rajpuri village in Faridpur. Pawan knows Shahnaz since childhood and has seen her devotion to Bhagwan Krishna.
He added, ‘Her family members would often be at odds with her and even get angry when they saw her devotion to Lord Krishna, but they were unable to persuade her to stop worshipping the Hindu deity.’
The angered family found one and only solution and that was to marry her off to a Muslim man. So they arranged the Nikah in 2018. One day, her husband caught her worshipping the Hindu deity. Furious at this, he gave her triple talaq and threw her out of the house. Shehnaaz returned to her parent’s house in Dhakni Rajpuri village in Faridpur, but here too, she faced constant taunts and insults.
Later on she met Pawan who understood her, with time they developed feelings for each other and decided to get married to each other as per Hindu rituals.
The moment Shehnaaz’s family members learned of this, they expressed reservations. The duo, however, secretly left the house and went to the Agastya Muni Ashram in Madinath.
Shehnaz underwent a Shuddhi ceremony, subsequently, some rituals were performed to revert her to Hinduism. She changed her name to Arohi and after that, she married her Hindu partner Pawan as per Hindu customs and traditions.
In May another Muslim woman, a victim of Triple Talaq and Halawa embraced Sanatan Dharma and got married to a Hindu man. Nasreen Became Neha to marry a Hindu man even after threats from her family members against the alliance.
The victim Nasreen is a resident of Digoi village that falls under the jurisdiction of Bhamora police. Nasreen in a media interaction said, “Though I was born in a Muslim family, I always had a special liking for the Hindu religion. I want to devote the rest of my life to Hindu deities and hence I have embraced Hinduism”.
After, coming to the Sanatan fold, Neha got married to Rahul. She said she loves him and knows he will keep her safe and sound. She had chosen Rahul, as her life partner on her own and no one forced her to follow Hinduism.
She believes Hinduism provides freedom to women.
Recalling her past life Neha said, her husband before Rahul was a Muslim man. He was an alcoholic and used to assault her almost every single day. He used to doubt her a lot, after she gave birth to his child, he refused to accept the children and gave her instant triple talaq. After the talaq, he started pressuring her to undergo halala. Tired of his weird demands Nasreen returned to her parent’s house.
The Triple Talaq Law, 2019
In August 2019, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) bill became an act after it was passed by both houses of the parliament. The highlights from the law are:
1. Instant Triple Talaq or ‘Talaq-e-Biddat’ became illegal.
2. Police can arrest the man accused of Triple Talaq without any warrant.
3. The law provides imprisonment for a term of up to three years.
4. The woman who has been the victim of Triple Talaq will get custody of minor children.
5. The woman can ask for alimony, an amount to be decided by the magistrate.
6. The magistrate can grant bail to the accused only after the victim supports the decision.
It is notable that this law only curbs ‘Talaq-e-Biddat‘ whereas ‘Talaq-e-Hassan‘ and ‘Talaq-e-Ahsan‘ are allowed to be practised by Muslim men.
