A high court in India rejected a plea to protect a Muslim woman and a Hindu man after ruling that her decision to enter into a live-in relationship with the man is illegal under Muslim law, calling it Zina (fornication) and Haram (an act forbidden by Allah).
Married Muslim woman living with another man is 'Haram', 'Zina' under Shariat Law: Allahabad High Court
Read story here: https://t.co/3fUF3M48E7 pic.twitter.com/R4QQCGkUjG— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) March 4, 2024
The Allahabad High Court in Prayagraj, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, was hearing a protection plea filed by a married Muslim woman and her Hindu live-in partner after they received threats against their lives from the woman’s father and her relatives. The court handed down its judgment on the issue on February 23rd.
The woman also told the Court that her former husband, identified only as Mohsin, deserted her to marry another woman two years ago, and he is currently living with his second wife. Following their separation, the Muslim woman returned to her matrimonial home, but she chose to enter into a live-in relationship with a Hindu man because of being mistreated by her father.
However, because the woman did not file for divorce from her husband and she was engaged in a live-in relationship with a different man, the state government and the High Court rejected their petitions for protection and even ruled that their relationship could be characterized as both Zina (fornication) and Haram (forbidden) under Sharia law.
A Muslim couple is married.
Man leaves the wife. Gets re-married.
Wife goes back to parents’ home. And then does in a live-in with a Hindu man.
They file plea for protection from the family against any threat to life.
Court refuses protection saying wife actions against Shariat. pic.twitter.com/Pq3AA8nkU9— Vishal Bhargava (@VishalBhargava5) March 2, 2024
"The first petitioner is living with [the] second petitioner in contravention of the provisions of Muslim law (Shariat), wherein legally wedded wife cannot go outside marriage, and this act of Muslim women is defined as zina and haram," the court ruled.
“If we go into the criminality of the act of [the] first petitioner, she may be prosecuted for the offense under Section 494 (marrying again during [the] lifetime of husband or wife) and 495 (same offense with concealment of former marriage fro]m person with whom subsequent marriage is contracted) of Indian Penal Code (IPC), as such, the relationship is not covered within the phrase of live-in relationship or relationship in the nature of marriage,” the court also added.
During the hearing, the state counsel declined the woman’s plea, ruling that since the Muslim woman did not seek divorce from her ex-husband, lived with the Hindu man in adultery, and did not move any application to convert her religion, their relationship could not be protected by law.
Justice Renu Agarwal said, "Such a type of criminal act cannot be supported and protected by the Court."
The Court further added that the woman is still "Muslim by religion, and she has not moved any application to the authority concerned for conversion of her religion under sections 8 and 9 of the Conversion Act."
