Shumaila, national netball champion, given triple talaq for giving birth to girl

Shumaila with her daughter. PIC/ABP News.

New Delhi: In yet another case of a Muslim falling victim to triple talaq, a national level netball player was divorced for giving birth to a girl child in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha district. Shumayala Javed, a national level champion for seven times was married to Azam Abbasi, a resident of Lucknow's Gosaiganj area in 2014. During the initial months of her marriage, her in-laws tortured her for not bringing in dowry. Her problems multiplied when they got her ultrasound done during her 8^th month of pregnancy. When they came to know she’s is going to deliver a girl, Shumaila was asked to leave the house and divorce was handed over to her. To avoid social embarrassment, Shumaila’s father used to earlier keep transferring money to her in-laws only to pacify them. But this year her in-laws made up their mind to not further accommodate her and there after physically forced her to vacate to return to her parents. "On February 9, 2014, I got married to Azam Abbasi. From the starting, my in-laws used to torture me for dowry. They used to exploit me. Every now and then, they used to ask for dowry from my father," Shumayala told newsagency ANI. "In June 2014, my father gave them Rs. 2 lakh. For some time, they treated me well. My husband's sister even tried to put me on fire. In September, my father again deposited Rs. 1 lakh in their account," she said. ALSO READ: MP’s Dalit man breaks monotony: Goes against age old custom on daughter’s wedding "When they learnt that I was pregnant, they said they want a son and threatened me of dire consequences if I gave birth to a girl. They even conducted an ultrasound to know whether I was pregnant with a baby boy or a baby girl. When I was eight months pregnant, they dragged me out of their house," she added. "When my daughter was born, they left me stranded. My father took me to my in-laws afterwards but they threatened him as well. My father left me there. But my in-laws kept on abusing me, both physically and mentally. In April, my husband divorced me through triple talaq," she told ANI. Talking to ABP News, Shumaila said most of the male members in the Abbasi family have married twice and have used the triple talaq system to their benefit. Fed up of police and local administration apathy, Shumaila now expects CM Yogi Adityanath and PM Modi to help her get justice. "I have written a letter to the Prime Minister and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. I expect them to help me get justice. I urge the Prime Minister to help me in this grave situation. He should set an example for all such people, who divorce their wives through triple talaq," she said. Adityanath had asked the women welfare department to oversee an exercise of collecting opinion of Muslim women on the triple talaq practice so that these could be presented before Supreme Court. The government plans to complete the exercise soon as the case is to be heard by a Constitution Bench in May. PM Modi has often raised the 'triple talaq' issue, saying justice should be done to Muslim women and asked the BJP to reach out to the backward sections in the community over his government’s bill to accord constitutional status to the OBC Commission.