Lucknow (AsiaNews) – On June 29 Three Indian women stormed a seminary in Madrassa-e-Sultan Madara in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh in India, and assaulted three Muslim religious. Mumtaz, Nishat Fatima Arshi, all Shiite Muslims, wanted to give a "life lesson" to the three Koranic scholars who had been bribed by their husbands with 2,500 rupees (44 Euros) to emit sentences of divorce (talaq), leaving their wives in the dark.

Flavia Agnes, lawyer and feminist commitment to women's rights, told AsiaNews: "This is a very interesting case. A man cannot divorce his wife within the walls of his house, he must do so in court with two witnesses and follow procedures".  The revolt of the three Muslim is a further sign of the revolution underway on the status of women in Islam. According to Agnes Islam promotes a "corrupt and patriarchal social structure".

In a video that has taken during the women’s raid on the seminary, one of the women is seen pulling the hair of one of the religious experts as another hit them several times with a slipper. Nishat Fatima has since declared that "beating the men was of great comfort" and appealed to all Muslim women "who suffer in silence to come out and speak out before it's too late."

For Shiites, divorce is permissible only if the wife is given the opportunity to defend her case. Behind the decision to storm the seminary, was Nishat Fatima’s accidental discovery: "My neighbours told me that my husband Ali had bought a divorce and remarried. I did research and discovered it was true. The divorce was issued this month by Sultanul Madaris ".

In defence of the women's rights, Flavia Agnes said that action is needed against another scourge of against women in Islam, polygamy: "We're trying to limit polygamy, insisting that a second marriage should be allowed only for valid reasons and only after the husband has provided a home and maintenance for the first wife”.