J&K police registers first case under Triple Talaq Act

Nearly two years since the Parliament passed the legislation declaring Triple Talaq illegal, Jammu and Kashmir police registered the first case under the act against a husband for pronouncing talaq three times to his wife.

The case was registered against one Rafaqat Ahmad Lone, who lives near Line of Control (LoC) in Mundya Nagam village of Keran in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on the directions of a local court.

Reports said on the directions of the court, police in February last initiated an investigation in a divorce case of Tahira Begum.

“During investigations it was found that the accused had pronounced talaq three times to her ex-wife and subsequently a case under Muslim Women’s (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019 (Triple Talaq Act) was registered in Women’s Police Station Kupwara,” he said.

The couple had married three years ago. The government passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance in 2019, making triple talaq an offence which can invite a jail term of three years.

The Supreme Court had struck down the practice of triple talaq, calling the practice unconstitutional and in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which provides for equality before the law.