Wife Calling Husband Impotent, Discussing Sexual Life Openly Is Mental Cruelty: Delhi High Court

Recently, the Delhi High Court stated that if a wife openly derides and humiliates her husband by calling him ‘impotent’ in front of family members, it can be considered a ground for divorce as such humiliation can be attributed to mental cruelty.

A division bench, including Justices Suresh Junar Kait and Neena Bansal Krishna, stated that the wife should have respected her husband’s privacy. The court also stated that discussing their sexual life in front of family members accounts for humiliation, causing mental cruelty to the husband.

Setting aside the Family Court’s refusal to grant him divorce, the state High Court granted divorce to the man on grounds of mental cruelty under the Hindu Marriage Act.

The judgement was passed in relation to a case of couple with the intention of having children, but due to medical restrictions, they tried in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. However, after failing two rounds of IVF, the two faced growing marital differences. The husband accused his wife of humiliating him in the presence of her parents and other members of the family by calling him ‘impotent’. One similar incident happened in 2011 on Dussehra.

The couple had gotten married in the same year.

The wife had also raised allegations of dowry harassment; however, the court did not find evidence to corroborate them.

The Delhi High Court stated, “In the light of above discussion, we conclude that to be openly humiliated and being called as impotent by his wife, in front of others and for the respondent [wife] to discuss their sexual life in the presence of family members, can only be termed as an act of humiliation causing mental cruelty to the appellant [husband],” as quoted by a Bar and Bench report.

The court also highlighted that the wife had detached from her husband without stating a reason or basis, depriving the man of “conjugal bliss since October 2013 till date,” accounting for an act of cruelty.