Lucknow, July 16: While the Supreme Court is hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the legal validity of Nikah Halala, a shocking incident has been reported from Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, where a divorced Muslim woman was forced to "sleep with her father-in-law" before remarrying her husband.

Nikah Halala is the practice which forces a divorced Muslim woman to marry another person and consummate the second marriage before returning to her first husband. The custom is validated under a hardline interpretation of Shariat or the Islamic law.

The plight of the Bareilly woman came to light after she approached her friend Nida Khan, who is married into the influential Dargah Ala Hazrat family. The latter called a press conference and sought the media's help.

The victim claimed she was divorced by her husband using the triple talaq norm. Later, he expressed remorse and asked her to marry his father as part of Nikah Halala. After consummating the marriage, she returned to her husband.

However, the woman was divorced again and this time asked to marry her brother-in-law as part of Nikah Halala. It was then she decided to go public with her grievance.

SP (City) Abhinandan Singh said a case has been registered against the family. No arrests have been made so far as the police has undertaken preliminary inquiry into the case.

Bareilly's top Imam Mufti Khurshid Alam, while speaking to News18, said the cases of Nikah Halala and triple talaq are being deliberately planted in the media to gain attention. He said the practices will be considered valid by the Muslim community in light of the Shariah.

The apex court is scheduled to hear the petitions challenging Nikah Halala and Polygamy on July 20.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2018 10:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).