Wife Forcing Husband To Live In Separate Room Is Cruelty: Allahabad High Court
Observing cohabitation as an important part of a matrimonial relationship, the Allahabad High Court stated that when a wife declines to cohabit with the husband and forces him to live in separate rooms, she deprives him of his conjugal rights. The court observed that it also amounts to cruelty.
The bench, comprising Justice Ranjan Roy and Subhash Vidyarthi, said the same while granting divorce to a man whose wife had forced him to live in a separate room and threatened him with suicide and criminal cases if he entered her room.
Read Also: “Prioritised Productivity…”: Assam CM Himanta Sarma On Doing Away With 2 Hour Juma Break
“Cohabitation is an essential part of a matrimonial relationship, and if the wife declines to cohabit with the husband by forcing him to live in a separate room, she deprives him of his conjugal rights, which will have an adverse impact on his mental and physical wellbeing and which will amount to both physical and mental cruelty,” stated the court.
Two years after their marriage in 2016, the husband moved the family court for divorce, claiming that their relationship changed after 4-5 months, after which the wife started harassing him. While it was the first marriage of the woman, it was the second for the man.
After initially appearing before the court, the wife failed to adhere to the summons to appear, with the court proceeding with ex-parte, reported the Bar and Bench. In January 2023, the family court ruled against the husband, stating that he had not provided the detailed particulars of the threats by his wife or establishing that such incidents occurred often. Following which, the man approached the High Court.
Read Also: ‘Religious Freedom Does Not Extend To Conversion’: Allahabad High Court
Calling the family court’s decision wrong to discard the testimony of the man’s father, the bench found sufficient evidence to prove grounds of cruelty and ruled in favour of the husband, granting him divorce.
