"His family were also subjected to mental cruelty."
An Indian man was granted a divorce on the basis that he was not having sex with his wife.
The Dehli Court justified the case, by stating that depriving the husband of sex without any valid reason can be regarded as mental cruelty.
The verdict was made after the husband filed for divorce complaining that his wife was subjecting him to mental cruelty after refusing any physical relations for four-and-a-half-years.
He backed his argument with the basis that she was not suffering from any physical disability.
In its judgment, the court bench referred to the settled legal position that: “Denial of sex to a spouse itself amounts to causing mental cruelty.”
The wife was also accused of not doing the household work and being unbearable to live with.
The man claimed that his family were also victim to the woman’s cruelty and when it became too hard to handle, his parents had told them to live in separate accommodation but within the same house.
The wife’s written statement presented before the trial court had initially contested the divorce plea filed by the husband while denying all allegations.
Nevertheless, in the trial court, the wife had not specifically denied the allegations as she stopped appearing, even though she was served with a notice.
Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Pratibha Rani commented, saying:
“In view the foregoing discussion, we are of the considered view that the husband has fully established that he was subjected to mental cruelty by the wife by denying sex to him for a long period despite living under the same roof, without any justification and though she was not suffering from any physical disability.”
The couple have two sons together and have been married since 2001.
The bench made a concluding statement about issuing the divorce: “We grant a decree of divorce in favour of the husband on the ground of cruelty by dissolving his marriage with the wife that had been solemnised.”
It remains to be seen if the wife will appeal the court’s decision to divorce her husband.
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