Extreme Cruelty in Wife’s False Report of Husband as Womanizer: High Court

Delhi, New: The Delhi High Court has ruled that making baseless accusations of an extramarital affair against a spouse and depicting him as a womanizer in public are acts of severe cruelty that call for the breakup of the marriage.

While upholding a family court order granting divorce on the husband’s claim of cruelty, a bench led by Justice Suresh Kumar Kait stated that mental anguish results from “constant nagging” about another person’s character and fidelity. A spouse expects their partner to respect him and “act as a shield of protection” in times of need.

According to a recent ruling by the court, a good marriage is predicated on mutual respect and faith, and if any of these is compromised to an unavoidable extent, the partnership will fail.

“Unfortunately, in this instance, the wife is openly harassing, humiliating, and verbally abusing the husband. She even went so far as to accuse him of adultery in front of all of his employees and visitors at office meetings. In an attempt to paint him as a womanizer in the workplace, she even started pestering the female employees in his office. The wife’s appeal against the divorce decree was denied by the bench, which also included Justice Neena Bansal Krishna. “This behavior is but an act of extreme cruelty to the respondent/husband,” the bench said.

“Casting doubt on the supposed extramarital affair with a different married woman, his friend’s wife, would inevitably result in cruelty.Such careless, humiliating, slanderous, and unfounded accusations made by one spouse, which have the effect of publicly harming the reputation of the other spouse, are nothing more than acts of severe cruelty, the court said.

The woman had forced her husband to take a potency test, which revealed he was fit, despite the wife’s claims that he was impotent, according to the court. It was noted that such accusations caused him emotional cruelty.

Additionally, court stated that the wife’s alienation of their kid from the husband amounted to mental abuse.

“Rejecting a kid who is one’s own flesh and blood might be the most excruciating experience there is. A parent who willfully alienates their kid from the other parent is mentally abusing them. The court said, “The child in this case has not only been completely alienated, but has also been used as a weapon against the father.”

“All of these actions, which took place over the course of around six years of their relationship, demonstrated that the respondent had experienced enough abuse and harassment to cause him such mental anguish and stress that he sometimes considered suicide. It said, “The appellant’s (wife’s) actions, as demonstrated, can only be described as cruel acts directed towards the respondent (husband).”

Nonetheless, the court determined that certain of the wife’s claimed actions—like her inability to finish an English-speaking course—did not qualify as cruel treatment of her husband.

It also said that she “may have shared her stresses in matrimonial life” and that her complaints to her professors and students over the alleged mistreatment by her mother-in-law and husband were not intended to degrade her spouse.