The five women who kicked in the divorce reform process

SHAYARA BANO:

The Uttarakhand native, Bano was the first petitioner in the case that led the Supreme Court to pass a historic verdict declaring the practice of triple talaq unconstitutional. Bano filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the SC in 2016, seeking a ban on the practice of instantaneous triple talaq after her 15-year marriage with an Allahabad man was abruptly ended in October 2015.

GULSHAN PARVEEN:

The English literature postgraduate Rampur resident from UP in 2015, in her petition said that her husband sent her a talaqnama on a Rs 10 stamp paper when she was at her parents’ home. She was subjected to domestic violence by him for dowry for over two years.

AAFREEN REHMAN:

Jaipur-based Afreen Rehman had an arranged marriage in 2014 after finding a match through a matrimonial portal. However, after a couple of months, she alleged, her in-laws started mentally harassing her for dowry. Later, they even started beating her and in September 2015 they asked her to leave their house.

ISHRAT JAHAN:

A resident of Howrah in West Bengal, Ishrat Jahan was divorced by her husband Murtaza of 15 years through a phone call from Dubai in April 2015.

ATIYA SABRI:

Atiya Sabri, also a resident of Saharanpur in Western Uttar Pradesh was the last petitioner in the case. Sabri married Wajid Ali in 2012 and after three years of marriage sent her a piece of paper saying that he was divorcing her. The note was sent to her brother’s office.