And we thought a Post-It was bad.
Just four weeks after getting married, a 27-year-old man from Kerala, India reportedly dumped his 21-year-old wife over WhatsApp, a text messaging app. According to the Times of India, he texted her a “triple talaq,” a practice in some forms of Islam in which a husband can divorce his wife by saying “I divorce you” three times.
The Times of India reports the groom was paid a considerable dowry by the bride’s family (an illegal practice), and 10 days after the marriage left for Dubai. Three weeks later, he sent his wife the triple talaq. According to J Prameela Devi of the Kerala Women’s Commission, “[H]e said she was like an apple and he had already tasted. So he did not want her anymore.”
Islamic scholars are divided over whether a talaq issued on WhatsApp is even valid. Some say it’s acceptable as long as the families meet in person and follow through, but Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen state president T P Abdulla Koya Madani told Times of India there’s no way a proper talaq could be done over the messaging app: “Talaq should be done under unavoidable circumstances and conditions. Mandatory steps for talaq cannot be followed in WhatsApp.”
An oral talaq delivered over social media or text is allegedly becoming increasingly common, and according to a recent study, 92 percent of Muslim women in India want a ban on the practice. Can we ban men who compare women to old fruit while we’re at it?
H/T Huffington Post | Illustration by Max Fleishman