(Trigger warning: This story is about domestic violence and the content could be distressing for some readers. Reader discretion is advised.)
"My sister Nazia, whom you tried to speak to last night about her case... I wanted to inform you that she has died...."
The phone beeped with this message from 23-year-old Nazia's brother, Mohammad Zahid. Ten hours earlier, Nazia had been lying on her bed, barely able to move and keep her eyes open when this reporter had briefly seen her. Unable to speak, her mother, 60-year-old Sawra, went on to explain the dowry demands, domestic violence and trauma her daughter was subjected to in her eight month long marriage. The final act of harassment was being given a divorce through instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat), a practice that was declared illegal through a law in 2019.
"They used to beat her up constantly and treat her in an inhuman manner. They would not give her food to eat or let her use the fan or cooler. They also made her have a bath in cold water. She developed infections and eventually needed surgery for her stomach too. Through all this, he would threaten us that if we went to the police, he would divorce her. Not going to the police didn't help, as on 28 June earlier this year he gave her triple talaq anyway," Sawra says, sobbing.