NEW DELHI: Greater than 20 years after her marriage, Rousanara Begum lastly heard the phrases she had waited for when the Supreme Courtroom just lately dominated {that a} divorced Muslim lady can reclaim the marriage presents her dad and mom gave her on the time of marriage.Now almost 45, she instructed TOI on Saturday: “It began 20 years in the past. I needed to combat loads for the victory.” For her, the SC’s determination is not only a authorized victory. It’s the closing of a wound she has carried since 2005. Rousanara was barely married when her marital life collapsed. Based on her case information, she was married in 2005 however the relationship fell aside nearly instantly.By late 2005, the primary cracks had appeared. In 2008, after allegations of dowry harassment, psychological cruelty, and being compelled out of her marital dwelling, she returned to her dad and mom. The talaq ultimately got here in 2011. The presents her father had given — 7 lakh rupees in money and a few gold that have been a part of her marriage ceremony — have been by no means returned to her. “(Rs) Seven lakh is some huge cash for folk like us,” she mentioned in damaged Urdu.Not like many households who concern the social judgement that comes with a daughter’s divorce, her dad and mom stood rock-solid behind her. Nonetheless, regardless of profitable within the decrease courts greater than as soon as, Rousanara’s combat ran right into a wall at Calcutta HC, which in Jan 2024 reversed the sooner orders and denied her the appropriate to reclaim the money and gold her dad and mom had given when she married. HC dominated in favour of the divorced husband, SK Salahuddin. This prompted Rousanara to maneuver the SC.Via the years of litigation, Rousanara rebuilt her life whilst she walked out and in of courtrooms. Immediately she works as a major faculty instructor in a govt faculty, is remarried, and has two sons.For her lawyer, Syed Mehdi Imam, it is among the most significant victories he has seen. “This was a gray space. Until as we speak, no clear judgment existed on whether or not the cash and gold given to a bride at marriage, however stored with the groom, should be returned after divorce,” he instructed TOI. “I urged the court docket: resolve this as soon as and for all.” Imam mentioned there was hesitation in some quarters as a result of the matter may have been misinterpret as a spiritual flashpoint. “There may probably have been pushback from some corners,” he mentioned. “Some feared it may flare into a spiritual controversy since this concern had by no means been adjudicated earlier than. It may have blown out of proportion because it was delicate.” Then, lastly on Dec 2, SC positioned equality and dignity on the coronary heart of its interpretation of the Muslim Ladies (Safety of Rights on Divorce) Act, observing that legislation should be learn in mild of the lived experiences of girls, particularly in rural and small-town India, the place patriarchal discrimination stays embedded.Muslim our bodies have welcomed the ruling. Maulana Raziul Islam Nadwi, nationwide secretary of JIH and its Shari’ah Council, mentioned, “Husband’s presents to the spouse, even when the wedding doesn’t final, can’t be taken again underneath Islamic legislation. Ladies’s presents have a distinct standing. Shari’at offers the spouse this proper, except she or her household willingly relinquishes it. There isn’t a contradiction within the SC order.” When the decision got here, Imam typed three phrases to her through the court docket lunch break: “Gained the matter.” That night time, his cellphone rang. She was in tears. “I’m very completely satisfied,” she mentioned. “This win is for all Muslim ladies like me.” For a lot of divorced Muslim ladies throughout India, this case from rural Bengal is a precedent: one which lastly clarifies that what’s given to a bride at marriage belongs to her alone.