DEHRADUN: A Haridwar woman who lodged Uttarakhand’s first case of alleged coercion into “Nikah Halala” under the Uniform Civil Code has accused her in-laws of threatening her and pressuring her to withdraw the complaint.
Taking note of the allegations, Social Welfare and Minority Welfare Minister Khajan Das visited the woman’s home and assured her of legal and administrative assistance.
He also directed the local police circle officer to investigate the alleged threats and take prompt action in accordance with the law.
The case was registered at Buggawala police station on April 4, 2025, on a complaint by Shaheen. She accused her husband, Mohammad Danish, and his relatives of subjecting her to physical and mental cruelty, assaulting her and evicting her from the matrimonial home after she refused to undergo Halala.
Shaheen alleged that after her husband divorced her, his family insisted that she marry and establish a marital relationship with another man, obtain a divorce from him, and only then remarry Danish.
Police booked Danish, Mohammad Arshad, Parvez, Javed and Gulshana under Sections 32(1)(ii) and 32(1)(iii) of the Uttarakhand UCC, which penalise the imposition of conditions such as Halala before remarriage.
Sections 115(2) and 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita were also invoked, along with relevant provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, and the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
Police completed the investigation and filed a chargesheet against the five accused in May 2025, according to sources.
“Ever since her marriage two years ago, her in-laws had been harassing her for dowry,” Shaheen’s elder brother, Mohammad Salman Ahmed, said.
“When she could no longer bear the abuse, she told my wife that she had been divorced and was being forced to perform Halala. My sister did not even understand its implications at the time,” he said.
“They wanted her to undergo Halala with a man chosen by them.”
The UCC came into force in Uttarakhand on January 27, 2025. It allows divorced spouses to remarry each other by mutual consent, subject to legal requirements, without either partner being compelled to first marry a third person.
Legal affairs expert Aman Kandera said the law did not impose a general prohibition on a religious concept but criminalised coercion.
“It penalises forcing a woman to marry a third person as a precondition for remarrying her former husband, particularly through threats, harassment or pressure,” Kandera said.
“The woman will not be left alone. The government will provide all possible assistance,” minister Das said, adding that police had been asked to assess the security needs of her family.