Soon after the practice of contracting marriages online gained popularity, e-divorces may just become the new big thing.
Mehrunnisa, a 23-year-old housewife from Hussainialam, was shocked to receive hear news of her divorce in an SMS on her mobile phone from her United Arab Emirates-based husband.
According to Indian media reports, a perplexed Mehrunnisa approached the police.
“The woman’s husband, a private employee who had gone to the UAE a year ago, had sent an SMS saying ‘talaq’. The woman believed that she was divorced and approached us for justice,” Women Police Station (WPS) South Zone Inspector Sreya said.
Narrating another such incident, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Tarun Joshi said that when he was posted in the Central Zone a few months ago, a housewife from Himayatnagar approached him with a complaint against her husband who had divorced her through a Skype video call.
“The woman’s husband is in the US and he pronounced divorced her while video chatting with her on Skype. As the woman complained that she was harassed by her husband, we have registered a domestic violence case under section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” the DCP said.
Every year, thousands of skilled and semi-skilled Hyderabadi Muslim workers migrate to the oil-rich Gulf countries, North America and European nations in search of livelihood. Earlier, when migrants wanted to get divorced, they used to post divorce documents to their wives back home with details of settlement of the Mehr amount. However, with the advent of digital technology, Muslim men have begun to utilise the internet and mobile phones to divorce their wives. The Hyderabad police claimed that in the past few months, several cases of men giving divorce to their wives through SMSs and video chats had come to their notice.
Asked about the validity of such a divorce, Mohammed Muneeruddin told Times of India, “Divorce through digital means, including SMS or video chat or e-mail, in the presence of witnesses is perfectly acceptable as per the Sharia.”
“Talaq (divorce) has to be pronounced thrice, on three occasions in three consecutive months as per the Sharia. However, the prevalent practice is to pronounce it thrice at a go in the presence of witnesses and get it registered. It is illegal as per the Sharia,” Muneeruddin added.
“We are accepting divorce documents sent by post but not intimations through SMSs and emails as in a majority of such cases, men act on the spur of the moment. In such cases, if a woman approaches us saying she was duped, we will register cases under section 498-A (Punishment for subjecting a married woman to cruelty) of the IPC or the Dowry Prohibition Act,” Central Crime Station (CCS) Inspector Janakamma said.
