Muslim women in Banke district are going to court against the husbands who have divorced them. All a husband has to do to divorce his wife here is say "talak" three times. This system also prohibits the wives from demanding their share of property. However, if a woman wants to get a divorce, she first has to get her husband's permission and pay him certain amount of money. Sabu Bahana of Nepalganj recently filed a property suit against her husband in the District Court. Kaishrajaha Idris, 32, is preparing to follow suit after 15 years of being divorced. Sakara Banu Bahana and Saija Ali Bahana have already won property cases and claimed what was rightfully theirs. The majority of women who file such suits also want to return to their husbands.

Batool Khale of Raniyarpur not only got half her property back but also reunited with her husband. Aayesha Pariban's husband asked her to come back after four years of separation, when he learnt that Pariban had gone to the courts. Until three years ago, no Muslim wives had filed cases against their husbands in the district's courts. Today, there are 20 property cases and 10 divorce cases awaiting hearing at the Banke District Court. Mohamaddi Siddique, one of the pioneers of this trend, says, "We have to spread this movement all over the nation."

There are over 236 cases of women who have been given 'talak' by their husbands in Nepalganj, according to the Muslim Society Development and Awareness Centre, most of them in rural areas. Muslim leader Maulana Abdul Jabbar says that the 'talak' rule, which originates in the holy Koran, has been misinterpreted over the years. Adds Siddique, "the process of divorce should be according to law, not misinterpreted religious values".

At a recent program in Nepalganj, there was a significant presence of talak victims (pictured, above).