In a significant development following the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Uttarakhand, police have submitted a chargesheet against five individuals, including the woman’s husband, in the state’s first ‘Nikah Halala’ case.
Acting on a complaint lodged by a woman identified as Shaheen on April 4, police at Buggawala police station registered a case against her husband, Mohammad Danish, and other members of his family. They were accused of subjecting her to mental and physical abuse, assault, and driving her out of the house after she declined to undergo ‘Nikah Halala’. ‘Nikah Halala’ is a practice that involves a woman marrying and divorcing another man following triple talaq before returning to her former husband.
On the basis of the complaint, police booked Mohammad Danish, Mohammad Arshad, Parvez, Javed, and Gulshana under Sections 32(1)(ii) and 32(1)(iii) of the Uniform Civil Code, Uttarakhand 2024 (Amendment 2026), which criminalise ‘Nikah Halala’ and related practices.
Police also added Sections 115(2) and 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, along with provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, and the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
The victim’s elder brother, Mohammad Salman Ahmed, said his sister had been harassed by her in-laws for dowry since her marriage two years ago. He said when the abuse became unbearable, she informed his wife that she had been divorced and was being pressured to undergo ‘Halala’.
He further alleged that the in-laws were forcing her to perform ‘Halala’ with a man chosen by them, even though she did not understand the process or its implications at the time.
Expressing gratitude towards the authorities, Salman said with support from Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and UCC member Manu Gaur, they were able to move forward in the case and seek justice for his sister under the new law. The chargesheet was filed on Thursday before the Court of the Judicial Magistrate Second Class in the Roorkee region of Haridwar.
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