The Hyderabad police has sought a Red Corner Notice against two brothers based in New York after their wives approached the police after one of them was divorced over WhatsApp. The older brother had done the same with his wife six months ago.
The story came to light recently when Usman Qureshi sent three talaq messages to his wife Mahreen Noor. The Indian Express had reported that Qureshi's elder brother, Syed Fayazuddin, had done the same with his wife six months ago. Fayazuddin is said to have sent his wife Heena Fatima divorce papers by post.
ANI had reported that the two women had protested outside the home of their in-laws, but were turned out by their father-in-law Abdul Hafeez. The women have also alleged physical and mental torture after the divorce and they were thrown out along with their children.
The case was registered at the Moghalpura police station.
South Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police V Satyanarayana told Bangalore Mirror, "We are not dealing with the WhatsApp Talaq aspect since it is a civil matter to be decided by the court. But, the cruelty of the parents-in-law to the two women comes under our purview."
The report suggests that the red-corner would help cops keep a tab of when the brothers arrive in India.
The Indian Express report had said that a case had been registered under sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Bangalore Mirror reports that Fayazuddin had divorced three women before marrying Fatima and was preparing to marry for the fifth time.
Earlier, Hafeez, who has now been arrested and sent to judicial custody, had told NDTV, "My sons have sent the necessary documents to them."
This case comes at a time when several petitions against the practice of triple talaq are pending before the Supreme Court. But the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has defended the practice.
Often, like in this case, Muslim women become victims of this practice and are thrown out of their homes, sometimes with children, after their husbands divorce them unceremoniously.
A lot of the victims of triple talaq are women who are completely dependent on their husbands or in-laws financially. But the AIMPLB has told the apex court, during a hearing of a petition against triple talaq, that it was better to divorce the wife than to kill her.