Acid attack on Shabnam Rani, woman who filed petition in SC against nikah halala; brother-in-law, his friends likely suspects

Shabnam Rani, one of the women who filed a petition against nikah halala and polygamy in the Supreme Court, was attacked with acid in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr on Thursday. According to reports, the acid attack was carried out by her brother-in-law and his friends. According to Dainik Jagran Rani was assaulted at her in-law’s house on Wednesday. The acid attack took place next day on Thursday morning when Rani was on her way to the police station to register a complaint with the SSP about the assault. [caption id=“attachment_5181621” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image of protest against acid attacks. News18[/caption] Rani was rushed to the local hospital and her condition is said to be stable, reported India Today. Rani hails from Delhi and was married off to Bulandshahr eight years ago, said the report. She had earlier accused her husband of divorcing her through triple talaq and forcing her to perform nikah halala with her brother-in-law, after which she filed a petition at the Supreme Court challenging practices of nikah halala and polygamy. The Supreme Court in July sought a response from the Centre on a fresh plea challenging practices of polygamy and nikah halala among Muslims, as it referred the matter to a constitution bench that has been already asked to hear a batch of similar petitions. The apex court, had last year banned the age-old practice of instant triple talaq among Sunni Muslims. Nikah halala is a 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 consummating the marriage. Last week, armed assailants attacked Farzana, another Muslim woman who filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking abolition of the nikah halala practice. According to Times of India, Farzana and her brother were attacked in Uttar Pradesh’s Sikandrabad. The woman was reportedly getting threats to withdraw the PIL and had already lodged a complaint with the police. The condition of the woman’s brother is extremely critical.