Acid attack on Shabnam Rani: Supreme Court orders security and medical care for nikah halala petitioner

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered security for Shabnam Rani, petitioner in nikah halala and triple talaq case, seeking protection after  facing an acid attack on 13 September, 2018 at Bulandshahr  in Uttar Pradesh.

#BREAKING -- Acid attack on #TripleTalaq victim Shabnam Rani: Supreme Court orders security of the victim. The Court asks the UP govt to ensure her safety. Rani may approach police if she travels outside the state | @utkarsh_aanand with more details pic.twitter.com/o8XAStzjVX

— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 17, 2018

The SC asked the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure Rani’s security and ordered that she may approach the police to escort her if she is travelling outside the state. The court directed the senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Bulandshahr to deploy police personnel for her security. The apex court also asked the government to make certain that Rani gets due care at a government hospital apart from the compensation under schemes for acid attack victims. In her plea against nikah halala and polygamy, Rani had alleged that her husband divorced giving her triple talaq and forced to perform nikah halala with her brother-in-law. She had further said that she was attacked allegedly by her brother-in-law. Numerous petitions have been filed in the apex court challenging the prevalent practices of nikah halala and polygamy among Muslims saying it was violative of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. While polygamy allows a Muslim man to have four wives, nikah halala deals with the process in which a Muslim woman, who wants to re-marry her husband after divorce, has to first marry another person and get a divorce from the second person after the consummation. Other petitioners in the nikah halala case also asked for security provisions and said that though they were not victims to any attack or assault since the petitioners were fighting against radical Muslim practices they also needed assurance to fight their battle safely, reported News18. The SC, in this case, said that they will not issue an appropriate order but ordered that state government will be mindful of their apprehensions and along with the police must act swiftly on complaints of assault by any petitioner. With inputs from agencies