Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: A cleric has been arrested in the Amroha triple talaq and halala case nearly three months after the matter first came into focus, with the survivor alleging that he facilitated a Feb 2025 nikah using a fake document that led to her gang rape under the pretext of halala. The woman, who said she was forced into marriage at 15 and given instant triple talaq twice, alleged that the arrangement formed part of a wider pattern of sexual exploitation. TOI reported on Jan 23 that the case began as a complaint under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, or the triple talaq law, before expanding into an investigation involving Pocso Act, child marriage, coercion, rape and criminal conspiracy. The case now names eight accused, and the survivor has alleged that the arrangements for halala were planned in advance.The accused, Maulana Nadeem, was arrested shortly after midnight on April 9, around 1am, and the survivor alleged he had used a “farzi”, or fake, piece of paper to convince her that the marriage was valid. She said this was done to facilitate her sexual exploitation in the name of halala, a practice under which remarriage is claimed to be permitted only after a woman marries another man, the marriage is consummated, and it ends through a natural divorce.She said she was forced into marriage at 15, given instant triple talaq twice, and compelled to undergo multiple such arrangements. In her account, Nadeem played a key role in one such episode by helping create the appearance of a lawful nikah that later enabled what she described as “gang rape under the false pretext of halala”.“Maulana Nadeem was arrested around 1 am from the Nagli police station jurisdiction,” Vikas Sahrawat told TOI . He added that Nadeem “has been sent to Bijnor jail”.
