One held for triple talaq in Kerala; Alleges law misuse

One person was arrested on charges of triple talaq at Mukkam in rural parts of Kozhikode district of North Kerala on Friday.

It was said to be the first case being initiated in Kerala for triple talaq after the centre recently brought in a legislation to ban the practice that prevailed in the Muslim community.

E K Usam, 32, a native of Mukkam, about 30 kilometers from Kozhikode city, was arrested by the police on the basis of a complaint filed by his wife, who also hails from the locality.

The woman alleged in the petition that her husband came to her house on August 1 and made triple talaq in the presence of her father and some other relatives. Though she initially approached the local police, the police did not initiate action. Subsequently, she approached a local court and the court directed the police to initiate action. The woman also alleged that Usam was planning to marry another woman and go abroad.

The Mukkam police said that the accused was produced before the local court at Thamarasserry and he obtained bail from the court. Sections 3 and 4 of Muslim Women (Protection of Rights of Marriage) Act was invoked against him.

Advocate P C Najeeb, who represented the accused, told DH that the triple talaq law was misused by the complainant against her husband. They got married in May 2011. But serious differences were there and the woman even filed a domestic violence petition against her husband in 2014, he said.