LUCKNOW: In a bizarre order, a community panchayat in Muzaffarnagar district has ordered a young married woman to become the “mother” of her own husband by living as a wife with her father-in-law who had raped her a fortnight ago. The panchayat judgment reportedly has the consent of local clerics who believe that, according to the Shariat, the wife’s relations with her husband stand nullified after the rape. A fatwa on the issue has also been sought from the Darul-Uloom, Deoband, and the final hearing in the case will be held in the first week of July.

According to available reports, Imrana, 28, was married to a rickshaw-puller Noor Mohammed about a decade ago. Noor Mohammed is a resident of Charthawal in Muzaffarnagar district where he lives in a joint family. Imrana, who is the mother of five children, was allegedly raped by her father-in-law Ali Mohammed about a fortnight ago when Noor had gone out to work.

When Noor Mohammed returned, Imrana related the incident to him but he apparently took no interest in the matter and remained silent. Upset over her husband’s attitude, Imrana announced that she would no longer live with Noor but other family members continued to pressure her to change her decision.

Finally, a community panchayat was convened on Sunday evening at Charthawal, where the local maulvis acted as panchayat members. After hearing Imrana’s story, the panchayat ruled that after being raped by her father-in-law, Imrana’s marriage to her husband Noor Mohammed stood null and void. The panchayat further directed that a case be registered against the father-in-law, Ali Mohammed, and also ordered that Imrana should stay away from family for a period of seven months and 10 days, during which she would be required to make herself “pure” again.

The panchayat said that after this 7-month 10-day period, Imrana could return to her in-laws’ home and live as her father-in-law’s wife.

“She, however, will then be like a mother to Noor Mohammed,” declared Maulana Shamim Ahmad of Bhore Wali Masjid, who acted as the sarpanch in the panchayat.

While Imrana’s four brothers, Dilshad, Imran, Sajid and Abid, have accepted the panchayat ruling; Imrana has refused to accept her father-in-law as her husband. Though she admitted that she strongly disapproved of her husband Noor Mohammed’s unexplained silence in the matter, she said that she would still prefer to live with him as his wife.

Meanwhile, when the matter was reported in local newspapers in Muzaffarnagar on Monday morning, the Charthawal police swung into action. After interrogating Imrana and her mother-in-law, the police have registered a case of rape against Ali Mohammed and is now preparing for his arrest.

“No one had reported the matter to us till now. But now that we have got the statements of Imrana and her mother-in-law, we have registered a case and Ali Mohammed will be arrested soon,” said Surendra Yadav, head of the Charthawal police station. The police, however, refused to comment on the panchayat judgment, saying that the matter involved religious sentiments and was of a sensitive nature.

Interestingly, panchayat judgments in Uttar Pradesh are getting increasingly bizarre. A village panchayat in Pratapgarh district recently ordered a rapist to marry his victim and in Baghpat district, the panchayat pronounced a death sentence for a father who had allegedly beheaded his daughter.—By arrangement with The Asian Age