Jagadishwaran (Consultant & Advisor) 25 July 2014

Divorce under muslim law

A Muslim couple live in our apartment building in Hyderabad. They have 1 boy & 1 girl. The man beats the woman and the girl child regularly for no reason. The lady has became very sick and is now very weak, stil the man is demanding that she cook food, clean house and provide him s*x. The lady has severe medical problems and she is under treatment. The lady has ex-rays & other medical records to prove this. She is unable to meet his demands but the man is very harsh and beats her if refused. Alongwith physical beating, he also tortures her in many different ways. We are fed up and we asked the man to stop beatings & fights but it has made no difference. The man says Islam/Quran/Sharia law allows him to beat his wife so the beating is legal. The lady wants divorce but the man says as per his religion only a man can divorce his wife. The wife wants to leave with the children but the man says that as per Islam children can live only with father? We are Hindus and we dont know Musim law. So please help with following questions.

1. Does Islamic law allow woman to apply for divorce. In such cases, can she retain the children custody.

2.Does Domestic violence law apply to Muslim couples?

3.Is it true that in case of divorce by Muslim couple, the man gets the children's custody? If yes, can she approach non muslim courts under violence / abuse category to retain children with her?

4. is there any way she can divorce and retain her 2 children with herself only?

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2 Replies

Tajobsindia (Senior Partner ) 26 July 2014

1. Muslim women, who are victims of domestic violence, have the right to end their marriage by seeking divorce or separation from her husband through 'Khula'. In this form, the wife gives or agrees to give a consideration to the husband for her release from the marriage tie. However, in every such divorce case as per Personal Law attempt to reconcile couple should be made otherwise the divorce is not valid.

2. In case of divorce as per Muslim law, the mother is entitled to the custody of her son till the age of 7 years and of her daughter till she attains puberty. Since I donot know the age of minors I add, she can use secular provision to claim custody such as GW Act if previous statement is not the case in hand.

3. DV Act, 2005 is now applicable to Muslims.

You can as responsible neighbor file a complaint in nearest Police Station with request to put up the same before Jurisdiction Court.

Your que. 3/4 are repetitive, see reply to them as above.