VIEWS OF MUSLIM WOMEN IN MAHARASHTRA – STUDY BY BMMA – MARCH 2019
VIEWS AND EXPERIENCES OF MUSLIM WOMEN IN MAHARASHTRA
About The Respondents
Study was done in Ahmednagar, Amravati, Aurangabad, Jalgoan, Nashik, Palghar, Panvel, Pune, Raigad, Satara, Solapur and Thane.
505 Muslim women were interviewed in 24 villages.
402 women are homemakers.
278 had family annual income between 35K-50K
207 of the women surveyed had 1-2 children
10 women have adopted children from their family members or relatives.
Consent and Age of Marriage
Out of 505, 428 said that their consent was sought before marriage.
Out of 505 women, 333 were married on or before 18 years
Nikaahnama
225 of the respondents did not have their nikaahnama.
Out of those who did not have it, i.e. 225, 16 said that it was not made at all.
50 said they did not get it in spite of it being made.
159 said they do not even know where it is.
Out 505, 379 of them said that they did not even read their nikaahnama before signing it.
Meher
194 women - meher amount upto Rs.1000/-
106 women - meher amount was fixed between 1000/- to 5000/-
79 women - meher was fixed between Rs. 5000/- to 10000/-.
60 women - meher was fixed over Rs.10000/-
9 women was fixed over Rs.50000/-
66 women said that they had no idea what is meher or what was the amount.
170 did not get mehr at all.
If above figures are combined than 236 women have not received meher.
241 received their meher at the time of marriage.
Out of all those who received it,
· 193 got it in cash
· 68 women said that they received meher in the form of jewellery
· 3 women received meher in the form of property.
Only 15 women said they got to decide the amount.
90 women don’t even know who decided the amount.
Divorce
Out of the 42 women divorced, 10 were divorced before the end of first year of marriage.
7 within the third year of marriage.
Of the 42 divorced women, 18 of the women said that their husband wanted divorce.
10 women said that they wanted divorce
Of the divorced women only 6 of the women received compensation at the time of the talaq
36 of the women said they did not get any compensation.
Of the 42 women divorced 21 of them were divorced verbally
Rest 21 were given talaq either through letter, phone, SMS, email and other way.
5 of the women were victims of halala
Maintenance
Out of currently married 428, 53 women did not get any financial support from their husband.
Out of those divorced women [42], 19 work are support themselves
12 women are supported by their parents
10 women are on their own, struggling to raise resources through charity to survive.
Out of these 42 divorced women, 27 retain the custody of the children.
10 women said the custody is with their parents as they were re-married
Out of 30 women who are widows 17 work and are on their own. Rest are supported either by her parents or by her in-laws.
Domestic Violence
Out of 505 women, 217 women said that they have been subjected to violence.
163 women said if they wanted to report violence, they would first approach the parents and elders in family.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board
449 of the respondents had not even heard about this body.
Property
425 women do not have a property in their name.
430 said that current house in which they are staying is not in their name.
VIEWS OF MUSLIM WOMEN
Age of marriage:
261 women said the girl should be above the age of 18 years
160 women said it should be over 21 years.
Put together 421 women say that age of marriage of girl should definitely not be below 18.
220 women say that the boy should be above the age of 21 years
274 women said it should be over 25 years.
Put together 494 want the boy to be mature enough to get into the relationship of marriage.
Mehr
474 of the women said that meher should be given at the time of Nikaah.
457 of women felt meher amount should be decided based on the income and property of the groom.
If meher not given at the time of nikaah, then,
· 240 women said that the husband should pay double the amount of meher
· 69 said the husband should be put behind bars
· 103 said he should pay penalty.
435 women affirmed that the amount of meher must be equivalent to the groom’s annual income.
438 women said that the meher amount must be decided based on the husband’s share in the income/profit
Polygamy
484 women said Muslim man should not be allowed to marry another woman when already married.
438 women said that even if first wife permits the man should not be allowed more than one marriage
311 women said even if wife is suffering from deadly disease, man should not be allowed more than one marriage
324 women said that even if wife is unable to conceive, man should not be allowed more than one marriage
398 women said that the man should not be allowed to re-marry even if she is a widow.
471 women said man should not be given permission for second marriage even if the population of women is more than man.
Triple divorce
Since this study happened after the Ordinance against triple divorce was passed by the central government, we took the opportunity to ask rural Muslim women about the same. Some were not even aware of the Ordinance. But on explaining to them about it, the women welcomed the Ordinance.
481 women said that government has done right by putting a legal ban on the practice of unilateral divorce.
459 women said it’s the right decision to give 3 years imprisonment to men who unilateral divorce their wife.
484 felt that arbitration must be made mandatory before the divorce is finalised.
226 women wanted that 3 months should be the process for arbitration
463 women agreed that the Qazi who sends notice of unilateral divorce should be punished.
473 women agreed that the legal method of divorce should be Talaq-e-Ahsan.
490 women agreed to Talaq-e-Mubarah being part of the legal process of divorce.
351 of the respondents say that women should not forgo her meher on khula.
Custody
In the event of divorce 461 of women believe that the custody of the child should go to the mother.
And maintenance of the child must come from the ex-husband.
A child’s best interest and child’s consent is crucial before deciding custody.
Adoption
435 women had no idea that a Muslim couple cannot legally adopt a child.
469 had no idea why that is so.
435 were not aware that even if they adopt a child, he/she cannot legally be natural heir to your property.
467 felt that adoption should be made legal and the couple must be allowed to make the child a legal heir.
Views on Codification of Muslim Personal Law
Of the 505 women surveyed 447 don’t know that they do not have a comprehensive personal law
464 women affirmed that that the codified law will help women get justice.
484 women wanted the government to fulfil its constitutional responsibilities.
441 women said that religious leaders must support women’s demand for codified Muslim Personal Law.
464 said that Qazi and the Darul Qazas must obey and implement the law passed.
484 women affirmed that the government must monitor and regulate the work of the Qazis.
492 women affirmed that Muslim women should provide legal aid and support to other Muslim women.
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