Bhubhneshwar: There seems to be no end to the talaq controversies from Orissa, despite the recent Supreme Court judgment on the Nazma Bibi case.
Thirty-five-year-old Jhunu Biwi is keen to stay with her husband, Sheikh Khalid, but she isn't allowed to do so because her husband said talaq, talaq, talaq.
Jhunu Biwi and Sheikh Khaled are from Taratua in Khurda, a district in Orissa. Khalid too wants to stay with her but the community heads are not allowing them.
On a festive occasion six months back, Khaled had uttered talaq thrice, though in a drunken state and now the village heads insist they have to go through Hallala, a ritual in which the wife has to get married to another person for three months, seek a divorce from him and then remarry her first husband.
Says Shayad Takbul Khan, President, Village Muslim Committee, "We respect the Supreme Court but we cannot go against our religion and allow the couple to stay together in our village."
Jhunu Biwi and Sheikh Khalid have been thrown out of the village and they are now staying in a neighbouring village.
But they refuse to go through Hallala.
Says Jhunu Biwi, "How can I go through the Hallala ritual? It is not acceptable at all. We just want to stay together with our children."
The couple filed a complaint with the local police station.
But the police are treading cautiously.
Says Amitabh Thakur, SP, Khurda, "We are trying to negotiate between the couple and the community leaders. We hope the case will be resolved soon."
This is not the first case of its kind in Orissa. Three years ago in Bhadrak, Nazma Biwi and her husband Sher Khan filed a case and last month the Supreme Court had given a landmark judgment, which allowed the couple to be man and wife once more.
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