Unfortunate ruling in Imrana's case

The topic of women's safety in India is always a subject of great debate. Most people tend to agree that women are vulnerable only outside of their homes, especially at their workplaces and during the commute to work and that they are safe inside their homes. This statement is far from the truth. Take a look at the rape cases that are reported (only a miniscule percentage of rapes are reported to police fearing persecution by society), and police conclude that the perpetrators are mostly acquaintances to the victim. This becomes even more painful when the perpetrators are related to the victim.

Take the recent case of Imrana. She was allegedly raped by her father-in-law in Muzaffarnagar. Now you may be wondering what is peculiar about this case. As bad as the crime being committed by a member of her household itself, what is even worse is the decision taken by the religious court that Imrana should terminate her marriage immediately. Now, for those who are wondering why should a religious court pass judgement and why are the police and regular law-enforcing mechanisms not working on this case, the answer is that the victim belongs to the "Minority" community and that Imrana agrees that this case should be handled only according to the religious court's interpretation of Shariat (Muslim Personal Law). According to Shariat interpretation, when a woman is violated by any of her husband's relatives, she becomes "haram" for him and hence should immediately terminate the marriage. The poor woman has accepted this verdict too.

Now, I am not taking potshots at the Shariat nor am I showing disrespect. The Shariat was evolved over thousand years ago in Arabia and was compiled by eminent people. It represented the thinking (whether conservative or liberal) at that time. What concerns me is that people still abide strictly by the Shariat even after a thousand years have passed and times have changed a lot since then. As appalling a decision as this is, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (which has the final say in such affairs) went a step further and issued a fatwa upholding the interpretation. No wonder the Women's groups across India are up in arms against this decision of forcing Imrana to terminate her marriage because of her father-in-law's crime.

Amidst all this, the basic humanitarian issue is totally lost. The woman should be given enough time to recover from this horrific episode and then given the option to make a decision about her marriage. As if the horror that she had to undergo due to her father-in-law's crime were not enough, she is being punished too (for no fault of hers, other than being a victim from the "minority" community) by being forced to terminate her marriage. As it is, our society tends to look down upon such unfortunate individuals. Now if she were to terminate her marriage and lose her protective cover, it would be a double whammy for her.

It remains to be seen whether the Muslim Personal Law makes some changes to their interpretations, keeping in the mind the changing times and the victims' rights.