I have no opinion on triple talaq: Maneka Gandhi

Union Women and Child Development Minister said that the law ministry should decide on it

Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday said she has formed no opinion on triple talaq as yet and would rather wait for consensus to emerge on the issue.

"I have no opinion on triple talaq nor should I have till a political consensus is reached on the issue. The law ministry should decide on it," she told reporters here.

The issue of triple talaq has gained traction after a woman in Jaipur was divorced by a letter she received through speed post. She has filed a petition challenging the issue in the Supreme Court. Various women's organisations and Muslim intellectuals have also spoken out against the practise.

On the Kerala rape and murder case of a Dalit woman, Maneka Gandhi said she hopes the new state government will look into it and added that it was the state government's call to hand over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"The investigation by National Commission for Women has clear evidence of a nexus between police and a person suspected in the murder. He has political connections and the (previous) Congress government did not take any action though the victim's mother implicated him," she said.

The 27-year-old woman was found murdered on April 28 at her home near a canal in Perumbavoor by her mother, a labourer. The body was badly mutilated and there were injuries on her private parts, according to police.

The crime is being compared with the rape-cum-murder of Nirbhaya that shook the Indian capital, and much of the country, in December 2012.