Wife Forcing Husband to Stay in Separate Room is Mental Cruelty, Says Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court has said that forcing a husband to live in a separate room without cohabitation can be considered both physical and mental cruelty. The court granted divorce to a man whose wife denied him conjugal rights and even threatened suicide and legal action if he entered her room.
A division bench of Justice Ranjan Roy and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi gave the judgment while hearing the husband’s appeal against a family court’s decision.
The couple got married in 2016. It was the wife’s first marriage and the man’s second. According to the husband, the relationship was normal for only 4-5 months after marriage. After that, the wife started treating him cruelly, refused to share a room with him, and made threats.
In 2018, the husband filed for divorce. Although the wife initially appeared in the case, she later stopped attending court, and the case proceeded without her. The family court, in January 2023, rejected the divorce plea saying there wasn’t enough evidence of continuous cruelty.
However, the High Court disagreed. It noted that the wife never denied the husband’s claims by filing a written response. So, her silence was taken as acceptance of the husband’s statements.
The court said living together is a key part of marriage, and denying it harms both mental and physical health. Forcing a spouse to live separately without good reason is cruelty.
The court also said the family court was wrong to ignore the testimony of the husband’s father. It stated that in family matters, relatives are often the only witnesses, and their statements should not be dismissed just because they are family.
It also rejected the idea that the husband’s past divorce was relevant, as that marriage had ended peacefully without allegations from his first wife.
In conclusion, the High Court found enough proof of cruelty by the wife and ruled in favor of the husband, officially ending the marriage.
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