Amroha Triple Talaq Case Expands to Include POCSO, Exposes Legal Grey Zone
What began as a straightforward FIR under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 has transformed into a complex criminal investigation involving serious allegations of sexual violence, coercion, and child abuse. This case from Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, has brought to light significant legal ambiguities surrounding the experiences of women after triple talaq.
FIR Details and Halala Allegations
According to the FIR registered on December 9, 2025, at Said Nagli police station in Amroha, the complainant alleged that after being divorced through instant triple talaq, she faced persistent pressure from her husband, his relatives, and clerics to undergo halala to facilitate reconciliation. Halala, under Muslim personal law, allows a divorced couple to remarry after the woman marries and consummates a marriage with another man and then divorces him.
The FIR contends that in practice, this often involves pre-planned, short-term arrangements—sometimes just a single encounter—specifically designed to enable the couple to reunite. The woman described the process as amounting to sexual violence, claiming she was gang-raped under the false pretext of halala, with the acts carried out through threats, intimidation, and coercion.
Legal Provisions and Investigation Progress
Police have invoked Sections 3 and 4 of the 2019 triple talaq law, along with multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to rape, aggravated hurt, criminal intimidation, and criminal conspiracy. Initially, the FIR named three accused: the woman's husband, his cousin, and a hakim (traditional healer). As the investigation advanced, more individuals were added to the list.
Amroha police confirmed that the husband has been arrested. SHO Vikas Sahrawat stated, The FIR has been registered on the basis of a written complaint. Further action will depend on corroboration and evidence. He added that police teams are actively searching for other accused who are currently absconding.
Expansion to POCSO and Legal Implications
This week, investigators also included provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act after examining the woman's age at the time of marriage, significantly broadening the case's scope. This development has reignited focus on an unresolved legal issue: Muslim personal law remains uncodified and does not specify a minimum age for marriage, instead linking marriageability to puberty—a topic on which courts across states have expressed divergent views, and which the Supreme Court has yet to settle definitively.
Chronology of Alleged Abuse
The FIR spans nearly a decade of alleged abuse. The woman reported to police that she was forcefully married in 2015 at the age of 15, subjected to instant triple talaq in 2016 and again in 2021, and compelled to undergo three reconciliation attempts through halala. After the first talaq in 2016, she claimed she was told she could return to her husband only after halala—a process that, according to her complaint, involved sexual assault by an intermediary.
In February 2025, she alleged she was informed that the process would have to be repeated twice since the marriage had broken down on two earlier occasions. After years of single parenthood and financial hardship, she said she once again believed assurances that she would be remarried to her husband.
Personal Background and Current Struggles
It was after a long time that I realised what had happened to me was wrong, the woman told TOI. A former student of one of Aligarh's leading schools, she comes from a family with a background in public service—her grandfather served as a DSP in the Uttar Pradesh police, and her father is a lawyer. With her husband now in jail, she expressed difficulty in maintaining life for her young daughter.
The husband, however, has denied all allegations, asserting that he was harassed and threatened by the woman and her relatives.
