I will never marry my father-in-law who raped me, Imrana.

Horrified at the panchayat's decision asking her to marry her father-in-law who allegedly raped her on the night of June 6, Imrana Bibi says she would prefer to remain single rather than comply. However Allah Razi, head of the Nurwaan Masjid in the village Charthawal where the shocking incident took place, is quite unmindful of the crossroads at which the 26-year-old mother of five now finds herself. "After sex with her father-in-law, the girl has become haram for her husband. According to me, she must accept her father-in-law as her husband and her husband, Nur Illahi as a son. She has no other option but to agree if she wants to continue to live in this village. Else she will have to leave," he says. Tensions have certainly mounted after Imrana decided to move out of her husband's village and live with her parents in Kukada, some 15 kms from Muzaffarnagar. Unable to swallow the insult, Imrana's brother came to Charthawal and thrashed her father-in-law Ali Mohammad. The police had to make its presence felt in the area to prevent the law and order situation from deteriorating further. Imrana's brother then lodged an FIR and had Ali Mohammad arrested. He was produced in the Muzaffarnagar sessions court and sent to 14 days judicial custody on Thursday. On the other hand in Charthawal the matter has now passed from the panchayat to the Muslim Shari'ah court of Muzaffarnagar that is expected to give its verdict on the first Friday of July. But opinion seems divided even among Muslim clerics and religious leaders. While some feel that Imrana's case is best left to the law of the land, others want the Shari'ah court to have the final jurisdiction. "Imrana has only two choices - she can either accept her father-in-law as her husband or divorce her present husband and marry elsewhere. Her five children should be handed over to her in-laws. After sex with her father-in-law, her husband has become her son. So if she stays with him, it's an insult to Islam," insists Sheikh Ul Hadis Maulana Anjarshah Kashmiri, a local Muslim leader. Another prominent member of the community however disagrees. "Shari'ah ke aaine main hame us mahila ka dard samajhna chahiye. Gunahgaar ko kadi se kadi saza dilaye janne ki zarurat hai aur Imrana ke saath insaf ki zarurat hai (We must understand that woman's pain in the context of the Shari'ah. The guilty should be punished as severely as possible and Imrana must get justice)," he says.