'Muslim woman can divorce promiscuous husband'

Gone are the days when a licentious Muslims husband could get away with his indulgence in illicit sex.

If the newly formed All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board has its way,  a Muslim would be entitled to seek divorce if her husband was found having illicit relationship with another women.

Divorce could also be sought by a Muslim woman if the husband forces the wife to indulge in unnatural sex. She could also seek talaq if the husband contracts AIDS.

The Board on Sunday came out with their much-awaited 'model nikahnama, which is stated to be aimed at providing Muslim women the desired protection from undue oppression by their husbands.

The new nikahnama also lays down that a husband is expected to provide "cooked food" to his wife.

It also explicitly bars men from declaring talaq (divorce) if he is in a rage of anger, intoxication or partial sleep. It also disallows divorce over telephone, text message or e-mail.

Releasing copies of the new nikahnama  in Lucknow on Sunday, board president Shaista Amber said, "We have framed the new nikahnama strictly in accordance with the tenets of Islam, which clearly prohibits any kind of harassment or oppression of a married woman by her husband."

It clearly spells out the grounds on which divorce could be initiated by the wife.

"Besides extra-marital relationship, these include absence of physical relationship between the husband and wife for more than a year, abandonment of the wife for more than four years, failure of the husband to look after the wife and family or any kind of ill-treatment or torture," it said.

According to Amber, "The shariat also entitles a woman to take separation even where the husband refuses to divorce."