Imrana's father-in-law held guilty

A local court sentences him to 10-yr RI for raping his daughter-in-law, reports Vasistha Bhardwaj.

Verdict has been delivered in the Imrana case -- a sordid, small-town crime that had turned into a national scandal.

District and Sessions Judge RD Nimesh of the Muzaffarnagar district court on Thursday sentenced 70-year-old Ali Mohammed to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping his daughter-in-law Imrana in June last year.

HT Image

Imrana hit the headlines, when following the rape, a local maulvi called her marriage illegal and said she should treat her rapist father-in-law as her husband, while her husband Nur Ilahi could be her stepson.

The Islamic seminary Darul-uloom Deoband reportedly issued a fatwa to the same effect - which it later denied. But Imrana continued to live with Ilahi.

When HT informed Ilahi of the judgment, he said he was worried about his father's health in jail.

While the All India Muslim Personal Law Board welcomed the judgment, Maulana Imran of the Shariat court in Muzaffarnagar said Ilahi should leave Imrana.