Patna: A village court in Jharkhand state allowed a couple to stay together after the man regretted his decision to divorce his wife.
The man had uttered the word “talaq” three times in a row.
Reports said the man had handed out the divorce to his wife via cell phone, about a fortnight ago in a fit of rage, but it all ended on a happy note on Saturday with the intervention of a local village court.
The incident took place in Garhawa district of Jharkhand.
According to reports, Gulsan Bibi of Lidikanda village was married to Aslam Ansari, a resident of Sonpurwa village, three years ago. Everything was going smoothly between the two until Aslam left his home, after a minor tiff with his wife one day.
About a fortnight back, he suddenly called up his wife and divorced her, pronouncing the word ‘talaq’ three times in succession.
The announcement left his wife shell-shocked.
She left her in-laws’ household and went to her parents’ home.
Soon after reaching her parents’ home, she reported the matter to her father Jumrati Ansari who in turn brought it to notice of the local villagers and a local organisation “Shan-e-Watan” working for the welfare of the Muslim villagers in the area.
On Saturday, a village court was formally held at a local Madrasa at which the villagers as well as the representatives of the Shan-e-Watan took part. The family members of the boy and the girl also attended the meet.
After hearing both sides, the court ordered Aslam to pay a maintenance allowance of Rs475,786 (Dh27,282) to his wife after finding him guilty.
The husband’s family approached local police, seeking intervention in the matter in view of mounting pressure from the village court to pay the money soon.
Police stepped in and settled the matter in a peaceful manner.
“They [Aslam family] requested us to intervene in to the matter saying they are unable to pay such a big penalty. We helped them reach at a compromise after which the man took his wife home very happily,” local police official Jitendra Kumar told the local media today.
Reports said the village court also asked the husband’s family to register a third of his landed property to the girl to ensure she didn’t face any hardship in the event of repetition of such an incident in future, which Aslam’s family happily agreed to do.
Witnesses said at the meeting the court, with the consent of Qazis, allowed the estranged couple to stay together as husband and wife without following the traditional practice of “nikah halala”. Subsequently, the man took his wife home.
