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Indian Supreme Court Rules Against Instant Divorce


FILE: A groom (L) and four brides sit outside the venue of their weddings as they have arrived late to a mass Muslim marriage ceremony in the western city of Ahmedabad.
FILE: A groom (L) and four brides sit outside the venue of their weddings as they have arrived late to a mass Muslim marriage ceremony in the western city of Ahmedabad.

India's top court has ruled that the practice of instant divorce in Islam "un-Islamic” and “unconstitutional.”

In a 3-2 majority verdict, India's Supreme Court also said that the government “should find a way to frame new laws.”

The ruling came after the court considered petitions challenging the so-called triple talaq (divorce) custom.

India does not have a uniform set of laws on marriage and divorce that applies to every citizen and allows Muslim men to divorce their wives simply by uttering the word talaq three times.

Muslim women say they have been left destitute by husbands divorcing them through triple talaq, including by Skype and WhatsApp.

The cases were filed to the Supreme Court by five Muslim women who had been divorced this way and two rights groups.

The practice had been challenged in lower courts but it was the first time India's Supreme Court had considered whether it was legal.

Based on reporting by AFP, Reuters, and the BBC

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