Quote:The petition asserts the need for legal equality, arguing that polygamy is banned for all other communities in India and that Muslim women should not be left with fewer protections. Stressing constitutional guarantees under Articles 14, 15 and 21, it states that personal laws cannot override equality, dignity and personal liberty. It calls for a statutory ban under Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (BNS) 82, which criminalises polygamy with imprisonment of up to seven years.

Additional demands include mandatory registration of marriages, guaranteed maintenance, inheritance and housing rights for women and children abandoned under polygamous arrangements, enhanced legal aid, crisis shelters and counselling, and community-led awareness programmes.

Quote:According to the BMMA survey, 85% of Muslim women want polygamy abolished and 87% demand that it be criminalised. The study reveals widespread rights violations: 79% of first wives were never informed about their husband’s second marriage and 88% said their husbands did not seek their consent. Following the second marriage, 54% faced abandonment and 36% received no financial support. The report highlights that 47% of affected women were forced to return to their parental homes due to destitution. The study also notes that 93% demand a complete ban on child marriage, citing a close link between child marriage and unregulated marital practices. The petition argues that these statistics expose “a system of structural injustice, not a religious or cultural obligation,” and that the lived experiences of women demonstrate polygamy’s functioning as exploitation and economic dispossession.