New Delhi: Former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) minister Chaudhary Bashir has been booked by the Agra Police, after his estranged wife accused him of divorcing her through “triple talaq”, Indian Express reported.
The practice of granting “instant divorce” was classified as a “criminal offence” through a law enforced by the Union government on August 1, 2019. The law provides for a jail term of three years for the Muslim man who commits the crime. The law also makes “triple talaq” a cognisable and non-bailable offence.
The woman said the police initially didn’t register her first information report (FIR). It was filed only after she approached Agra senior superintendent of police (SSP) Muniraj G.
The woman told the police she married Bashir in November 2012. She has two children with him. For the last three years, she has been living with her parents.
She further alleged, according to the report, that soon after marriage, her husband and his sisters started harassing her mentally and physically. She took legal action against them, but the matter is still in court.
Now Bashir is marrying for the sixth time last month.
Also read: A Year Later, Are Instant Triple Talaq Culprits Actually Going to Jail?
“On July 23, I came to know that my husband is having his sixth marriage with a woman named Shaista, and I went to his house. There, Chaudhary Bashir abused me and saying ‘teen talaq’ he forced me out. When I first went to the Mantola police station, the case wasn’t registered. Bashir is someone of criminal background and thus, while providing me security, take necessary action against him,” the woman told the Indian Express.
Mantola station house officer (SHO) Vinod Kumar confirmed to the daily that the FIR was registered on SSP Muniraj G’s directions. He further said that two more cases were registered against Bashir, both of them based on the woman’s complaints. A fresh FIR for triple talaq has been registered against Bashir, he added, but no arrest has been made. He said the police is investigating the matter.
The former minister has been booked under IPC Section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and relevant sections of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act.