In India, there are rising calls among the right wing Hindu Sangh Parivar for the enactment of the Uniform Civil Code to govern family and personal matters, according to a report in today's South Asia Tribune. This new push stems from protests against rulings by conservative Muslim authorities in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh after a Muslim woman was raped by her father-in-law. The history is reviewed in an article today from South Africa News 24. Originally local clerics ruled that the rape had annulled the woman's marriage, and ordered that she marry her father-in-law who raped her. They were overruled in part by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB). It merely ordered the 28-year old Imrana Ilahi to separate from her husband. The husband is to raise their children. Many groups, including the All India Muslim Women's Personal Law Board, have strongly criticized the ruling.
The AIMPLB also said that the father-in-law who has been arrested, but claims that the sexual relations were consensual, should be stoned to death.
