Court upholds women's dignity in marriage

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has reinstated the conviction of an octogenarian husband for subjecting his wife, also in her eighties, to mental and economic cruelty while directing the husband and their son to pay her monthly maintenance of 220,000 plus accumulated arrears. Justice L. Victoria Gowri held that

- HD Bureau

the husband's conviction was not an act of vengeance but a necessary assertion of the principle that age does not sanctify cruelty.

The case concerns a couple married in 1965, with two sons. The wife lodged a complaint in 2007 alleging her husband, the surviving son and daughter-in-law subjected her to isolation, forced her to bring money from relatives, denied her food and communication, and curtailed her religious practices.