The Bombay High Court has held that denial of physical relationship to husband and suspecting him of an extra-marital affair amounts to cruelty and is hence a ground for divorce.
The bench comprising of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale said the woman’s conduct can be construed as “cruelty” against her husband.
The husband claimed cruelty on several grounds, including denial of physical intimacy, suspecting him of having extra-marital affairs and causing mental agony by embarrassing him in front of his family, friends and employees.
He also alleged that his wife deserted him when she left his house and went to her parents’ home.
The couple got married in 2013, but started living separately in December 2014. In 2015, the man approached the family court in Pune seeking divorce on the grounds of cruelty, which was granted.
The woman contested the divorce on the ground that though her in-laws had harassed her, she still had love for her husband and does not wish for the marriage to end
“The appellant’s (woman) behaviour with the man’s employees is sure to cause agony to him. Similarly, humiliating the man in front of his friends is also cruelty to him,” the high court held.
It noted that the woman’s apathetic and indifferent behaviour with the man’s specially abled sister is also sure to cause pain to him and his family members, the court said.
The court, while dismissing the woman’s plea, said the marriage between the couple is broken without any possibility of being mended.