A 24-year old woman with her minor son filed a petition in the Kerala High Court regarding ending her Iddat period which had lasted for 2 years after the divorce with her husband. She said that there has been no consummation during the 2 years period and that she is free to marry someone else.
What is Iddat?
The Iddat in Islam is a period that a woman has to maintain to prove her chastity after the death of the spouse or after a divorce. It was established to avoid any confusion regarding the woman’s pregnancy and in the identification of the father of the child. In the plea, the petitioner further stated that she is ready to prove; she was not pregnant during the Iddat period.
The woman suffered several mental tortures during her marriage and thereafter, she and her son were chased out of her husband’s house in 2019. Following this, the petitioner announced Khula (divorce declared by a woman in Islam) and sent a notice to the respondent.
After denouncing her marriage, she sent her applications to the Family Court for giving her jewellery back that is still kept with her ex-husband.
Later on, an injunction order from the Family Court was declared for restraining her from entering into a second marriage until future orders by the court.
The woman argued that according to the Mullah’s principles of Mohammedan Law which stated that “if there was no consummation, there is no Iddat and she is free to marry immediately.”
The arguments were laid that delaying her applications by the Family Court is unjustifiable and illegal.
After looking into the matter, a bench of Justice Muhamed Mustaque and Justice Sophy Thomas temporarily stayed the injunction order passed by the Family Court restraining the woman from entering the second marriage.