HC: Denying husband sex, alleging an affair is cruelty

A woman insulting her husband in front of his friends, denying him physical relations, and making baseless allegations of extramarital affairs amount to cruelty and are grounds for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, the Bombay high court held on Thursday.

- Karuna Nidhi

Stating that such conduct amounts to mental agony and humiliation, a bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Dr Neela Gokhale held that these were sufficient grounds to grant divorce under the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act.

The bench was hearing an appeal filed by a woman against a Pune family court's November 2019 judgement allowing her husband's plea for divorce.

The couple had gotten married in December 2013 but separated within 12 months due to personal differences. In July 2015, the woman filed a complaint with the police against her estranged husband and his family, alleging that they had harassed and humiliated her, kept her streedhan (wealth and other assets) and told her to leave the house.