Hyderabad woman appeals to MEA over Talaqnama given on WhatsApp

HYDERABAD:Even as a debate rages over the triple talaq ordinance, a 29-year-old Hyderabadi woman has appealed to Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj for justice. A resident of Fatehsha Nagar in the city, Huma Saira was given triple talaq over WhatsApp and abandoned by her Omani husband Ghabish Said Nasib Jalboobi.

Saira says the trouble started after their firstborn infant died within a month of birth when jalboobi told Saira to return to Hyderabad saying he had no need for her anymore.Saira did not give up easily. Though she was under shock and trauma of losing her child, and had fallen ill after the delivery, she refused to go away like that. “My husband then changed tack and asked me to go home to Hyderabad and rest for a few days,” says Saira. He promised to bring her back to Oman with him.

Believing his words, Saira returned to the city on July 30. However, on August 12 she received a notice on WhatsApp saying she had been served with talaq nama. Saira got married to the sexagenarian sometime in 2017. The nikkah was performed over phone by Farid Ahmed Khan, the chief qazi of Mumbai and the ceremony was held at the guest house of an agent.

Saira says that while the Omani national had promised to pay `1.25 lakh for her hand in marriage, they were given only `30,000. “My experience in Oman was horrible,” says Saira, who left for the Gulf nation along with her husband. “I used to be constantly ill-treated, beaten up, denied medical facilities and food,” she claims.  

Saira’s ordeal came to light on Wednesday when she approached MBT spokesperson Amjed Ullah Khan. “Please help us poor people. They are playing with our lives. We are forced to marry because we don’t have enough means to live. But these people take advantage of us . We don’t have anyone to fight for us,” Saira said.  She urged Swaraj to intervene into the matter and to ask the Indian Embassy in Muscat to help her.