The Allahabad High Court has cleared the way for a full police investigation into allegations that a woman was sexually assaulted twice under the pretext of performing “nikah halala” to remarry her husband.
A division bench comprising Justices J.J. Munir and Tarun Saxena dismissed three petitions filed by the husband and other accused individuals who sought to throw out the police complaint. The court ruled that personal laws governing marriage cannot protect individuals from criminal prosecution if an offense is committed within a matrimonial relationship.
Statutory Rape And Gangrape Allegations
According to the court, the allegations—which include the sexual abuse of the complainant when she was a minor—prima facie amount to statutory rape, offenses under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and gangrape.
While the judges clarified that they were not ruling on the general constitutionality of the “nikah halala” practice, they emphasized that using the custom to subject a minor to sexual relations constitutes a criminal offense under the POCSO Act.
The bench expressed deep concern over the circumstances of the case, stating that the facts presented a picture of society conflicting with constitutional values of equality, privacy, and personal dignity. The judges described the details in the official record as shocking to the conscience.
Details Of The Police Complaint
The case stems from a First Information Report (FIR) registered on December 9, 2025, in the Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh. The accused face multiple charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including physical and mental cruelty by a husband or relatives, rape, and gangrape. The charges also include violations of the POCSO Act and provisions of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, which criminalizes instant triple talaq.
The High Court concluded that the serious nature of the allegations warrants a thorough police investigation, rejecting all pleas to quash the charges.
Chronology Of The Relationship
According to police records, the complainant was 15 years old when she married the principal accused in April 2015. Her husband pronounced triple talaq in January 2016. To remarry him, the teenager was allegedly pressured into undergoing a “nikah halala” arrangement in November 2016, which involved forced sexual relations with a cleric. The complainant, who was 16 at the time, stated she did not understand the practice.
The couple remarried in April 2017 and had a daughter. However, the husband allegedly assaulted her for not giving birth to a son and pronounced triple talaq a second time in 2021, leading to a court-ordered divorce.
Subsequent Assault And Denied Marriage
The husband later remarried but contacted the victim to reunite after finding out his second wife could not bear children. The complaint alleges that in February 2025, the husband’s brother and nephew forced the victim to undergo a second “nikah halala,” during which she was raped. A fraudulent marriage ceremony with the husband was subsequently performed.
The victim later discovered that her name was left out of the mother’s column on her daughter’s school records. When she confronted her husband, he reportedly denied that she was his wife.
