In what appears to be a radical change in Muslim society, the number of women filing cases of divorce - khula - is far higher than the number of men giving talaq, going by data from the Markazi Darul Qaza Imarat-e-Sharia (Justice of Islamic Sharia Court) in Bengaluru.
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Of the 116 cases in 2016 before the Islamic Court, 81 were for khula, where women take the initiative to separate.
In 2017 (till August) the court dealt with 70 divorce cases, of which 53 are for khula. Quazi Moulana Mohammed Haroon Rashadi, who heads the court, says a majority of petitioners is women, most of them in the age group of 28 to 35 years. When women seek khula, there is no scope to appeal for alimony or mehr.
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In most cases, the reasons for khula include abusive irresponsible husband, adultery, family pressure, lack of understanding between the couple, the woman's financial independence and even her higher educational qualification."Though the number of cases filed by women is high, I feel that not all are genuine cases," said Quazi Mohammed.
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"In many cases, women have asked for khula due to parental pressure. We counsel the women, the men and their families. Only in cases where neither agrees to compromise, or the woman has to be liberated from a bad marriage do we issue khula. With more and more women now educated and earning, financial independence is also a contributing factor to divorce," he said.
There are rules and conditions to filing complaints in the Sharia court. If the husband or wife gives a police complaint or files for divorce in the family court, they cannot approach the Sharia court. This also applies if a case of domestic violence or dowry harassment is filed with the police.
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"We don't take up such cases as it becomes contempt of court, as these cases are already being handled by another court of law," says Quazi Mohammed, who has served in the court for 20 years.
He adds that efforts are made to counsel the couple and save marriages in the best interest of families. Currently , one of the khula appeals the court is handling relates to a 30-year-old woman, a mother of two children who wants to leave her abusive husband. All appeals before the Sharia court have to be filed in Urdu, with the help of a translator, if the applicant does not know the language.
There are no women counsellors or judges in the court, and one does not hire an advocate. It is also mandatory to attach the marriage certificate, authentication letter and verification letter from the area mosque of the defendanthusband with the petition.
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The spread of the internet, smartphones and rise in the number of employed women in cities like Bengaluru, contribute to the lack of harmony in marriages, said Quazi i Mohammed. He recalls the case of a man who applied for talaq, showing 70 pages of his wife's chat history with another man. "There were records to prove that the woman was chatting with another man in the middle of the night, and the husband filed for talaq," he said, describing this as "a disturbing trend". He also condemns the recent Supreme Court ruling on triple talaq.