Pune man gives triple talaq to wife over phone, booked alongside family members

Pydhonie police have booked a Pune man for allegedly giving triple talaq to his wife over a phone call. The family members of the man have also been booked for dowry

Pydhonie police have booked a Pune man for allegedly giving triple talaq to his wife over a phone call. The family members of the man have also been booked for dowry harassment and subjecting the woman to cruelty.

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According to police, the complainant Aaysha Latif Chhatriwala, 22, in her complaint has stated that she was married to Pune resident Mohsin Chhagla on May 27, 2016, in Pydhonie. Mohsin had a small footwear business earlier but now works as a delivery man with a pharmaceutical company.

The complainant has alleged that before marriage, the Chhagla family had demanded ₹5 lakh as dowry from her parents, but after talks, they agreed to ₹3 lakh, which was subsequently paid to them through cash and cheque.

However, a week after the wedding, her mother-in-law Sultana Chhagla and sister-in-law Zarin started taunting for giving a smaller dowry. In her complaint, Chhatriwala claimed her in-laws made her work as a maid.

Due to the stress, Chhatriwala, who underwent open-heart surgery as a child, in 2017 started suffering from health issues and was asked to take treatment. She also stated that her husband assaulted her while she was pregnant in December 2016.

On June 12, when the complainant phoned to tell him that she wanted them to live separate from his parents he pronounced talaq four times.

Chhagla’s relatives tried to settle the dispute, but she refused their offer of Nikah Halala (a practice in which a woman after being divorced by talaq, marries another man, consummates the marriage, and gets divorced again to be able to remarry her former husband).

However, Chhagla has refuted all the allegations, terming them false and baseless. “I admit that I said Talaq over the phone, but I was angry at the time and did it by mistake. Such talaq is not valid. I regret it and I still believe that I have not divorced her. There is no question of asking her for Halala. My wife and her parents want to take advantage of my mistake as she wishes to separate from me,” he said.

On Chhatriwala’s complaint, police on Friday booked her husband and his family members under relevant sections of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, and Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Chhatriwala did not respond to HT’s calls.