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Chhattisgarh High Court granted divorce to a man, ruling his wife’s taunts over unemployment and unreasonable demands during COVID-19 as mental cruelty.
The Chhattisgarh High Court granted the decree of divorce in the husband’s favour.
The Chhattisgarh High Court ruled that taunting a husband for being unemployed and making unreasonable demands during financial hardship constitutes mental cruelty, granting a man divorce on those grounds. A division bench of Justice Rajani Dubey and Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad delivered the judgment, setting aside a family court order that had earlier refused the husband’s plea for divorce.
The case centred on a man whose wife, after earning a PhD and securing a position as a school principal, allegedly began insulting and quarrelling with him, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when he lost his source of income.
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“It has been clearly deposed that after obtaining a Ph.D. degree and securing a high-paying job as a Principal, the respondent’s behaviour towards the appellant changed significantly. She became disrespectful, frequently taunted him for being unemployed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and engaged in repeated verbal altercations over trivial matters. These acts…clearly amount to mental cruelty as recognised under law,” the bench said as per a report in Bar and Bench.
The court also noted that the wife allegedly turned their daughter against her father, left the matrimonial home in August 2020 with the daughter and abandoned their son. In a letter, she declared her decision to voluntarily leave and sever ties with both husband and son.
The husband presented oral and documentary evidence, including his affidavit and the wife’s letter. Despite being served notice, the wife did not appear in court or file any response. The family court had nevertheless dismissed the petition but the High Court said this failed to appreciate the unrebutted nature of the husband’s claims.
Holding that the wife’s actions amounted to both cruelty and desertion under Section 13(1)(i-a) and (i-b) of the Hindu Marriage Act, the Chhattisgarh High Court granted the decree of divorce in the husband’s favour.
- Location :
Chhattisgarh, India, India
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