'Harassed' Muslim woman divorces hubby at press conference

In probably a first case of its kind, fed up by her mental harassment ,a Muslim woman divorced her husband through 'khula' (an Islamic form of divorce initiated by the wife) at a press conference here.
 
Shazda Khatoon, who had been married to Zubair Ali, a resident of the state capital, around 12 years back, announced sending the 'khulanama' (the divorce papers) to the hubby before the media here on Saturday.
 
Shazda said that her husband had been harassing her mentally for the past several years. ''I kept tolerating all atrocities in the hope that things would be alright one day...but it did not,'' she said.
 
'' I sought a divorce from him but he refused...he and his family only wanted to harass me,'' she said.
 
She said that she had also approached the 'Shariat court' (Islamic court) and sought justice from there. ''I was not allowed to give khula to my husband,'' she said.
 
Shazda then contacted a women's rights activist, who suggested that she should not look to the clerics and should herself give 'khula' to Zubair.
 
Muslim clerics differed on whether a woman could divorce her husband in such a way. ..A Muslim woman can not give khula in this way...she will have to approach the sharia court if the husband is not giving her divorce....there is a well-defined procedure after which divorce can be granted,'' said a senior Muslim cleric here on Sunday.
 
Women's rights activists, however, find nothing wrong with this. ''Islam allows a woman to divorce her husband if the latter refuses to give divorce to her,'' said an activist here.