UP Muslim woman’s abuse horror: Married at 15, gang-raped under 'halala' after repeated triple talaqs

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• UP woman alleges gang-rape under halala pressure after repeated triple talaqs
• Husband arrested; police searching for other accused in Amroha case
• POCSO sections added as woman was married at age 15

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A complaint initially filed under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 has now grown into a serious criminal case involving allegations of sexual violence, coercion and child abuse in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha district. The case has also drawn fresh attention to the practice of “halala” and the legal grey areas surrounding women’s rights and the age of marriage under Muslim personal law.

According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered on December 9, 2025, at Said Nagli police station, a woman alleged that after her husband divorced her through instant triple talaq, she was repeatedly pressured to undergo halala so that she could be taken back into the marriage. The complaint was initially filed under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, which criminalises instant triple talaq, The Times of India reported.

As police began investigating, the case widened. Authorities added multiple sections related to rape, criminal intimidation, causing grievous hurt and criminal conspiracy under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Allegations of coercion and gang-rape

Halala is an exception under Muslim personal law that allows a divorced couple to remarry if the woman first marries another man, consummates that marriage, and then gets divorced. In practice, the woman alleged, this process was misused.

In her complaint, she claimed that the halala arrangements were pre-planned and involved sexual assault. She alleged she was “gang-raped under the false pretext of halala”, with the acts carried out through threats, intimidation and coercion, with pressure from her husband, his relatives and religious intermediaries.

Police said the FIR initially named three accused, the woman’s husband, his cousin and a hakim (traditional healer). As the investigation went on, more names were added.

Husband arrested, others absconding

Amroha police confirmed that the woman’s husband has been arrested in the case. Station House Officer Vikas Sahrawat said the FIR was registered based on a written complaint and that further action would depend on evidence and corroboration.

Police teams are currently searching for other accused who are absconding. Officials said statements of witnesses are being recorded and material evidence is being examined as part of the investigation.

The husband has denied all allegations. He has claimed that he was harassed and threatened by the woman and her relatives, and has rejected the accusations made against him.

POCSO angle adds new legal questions

The police, this week, added sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after examining the woman’s age at the time of her marriage. According to her statement, she was married in 2015 when she was just 15 years old.

The addition of POCSO sections has expanded the scope of the case and highlighted a long-standing legal grey area. Muslim personal law is uncodified and does not specify a minimum age for marriage, instead linking marriageability to puberty.

Ten years of abuse

The FIR details nearly ten years of alleged abuse. The woman told police she was divorced through instant triple talaq in 2016 and again in 2021. Each time, she was allegedly told that halala was necessary if she wanted to return to her husband.

She claimed that after the first talaq, she was subjected to sexual assault by an intermediary as part of the halala process. In February 2025, she was allegedly informed that halala would need to be performed twice because the marriage had broken down on more than one occasion.

The woman said that after years of raising her child alone and facing financial hardship, she again believed promises that she would be taken back into the marriage. “It was after a long time that I realised what had happened to me was wrong,” she was quoted by TOI as saying.

The woman comes from a family with a background in public service. Her grandfather was a deputy superintendent of police in Uttar Pradesh, and her father is a lawyer. With her husband now in jail, she said she is struggling to support her young daughter as the case moves forward.