Mumbai:

A 35-year-old woman from Dongri who was given talaq by her builder husband has filed a petition in the Bombay high court seeking a ban on polygamy and nikah halala in the Muslim community. The woman claimed that her husband was already married and has urged the high court to set aside the talaq pronounced by him without her knowledge and certified by a qazi.

“Polygamy is a practice that has been recognized as an evil plague, similar to Sati, and has also been banned by law in India for all but Muslim citizens…bigamous marriage has been made punishable among Christians by the Christian Marriage Act, among Parsis by the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, and among Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains by the Hindu Marriage Act. However, the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act does not secure for Indian Muslim women the protection from bigamy, ” said the petitioner. “A ban on polygamy has long been the need of the hour in the interest of public order and health.” The petition referred to court orders which have held that polygamy is not an integral part of religion.