CHENNAI: The Madras High court held that a wife repeatedly leaving the matrimonial home and staying at her maternal home, without valid reasons, amounted to cruelty, as such conduct could create a sense of insecurity in the husband's mind.
The bench of Justices PT Asha and N Mala noted that the relationship between a husband and wife is reciprocal and cannot be dictated by either spouse. The matrimonial bond has to be nurtured with compassion, mutual adjustment and love.
The frequent visits of the appellant to her maternal home “for unjustifiable and invalid reasons, amounts to cruelty, as it will cause the husband to live in the fear that his wife may pick up a fight with him and leave him at the drop of a hat," the court said, while hearing an appeal filed by the wife, challenging the family court's order granting divorce to her husband.
The couple got married in June 2019.
The husband alleged that the wife initially refused to accompany him to the matrimonial home; she came after persuasion by him and his parents. After two months, she left for her maternal home and did not return for nearly four months. The husband said he tolerated her conduct for the sake of his family’s honour. He alleged that she later insisted on a separate residence, but stayed there for only a month, before asking him to shift to another house near her parents. He further alleged that she left the house after a quarrel over a phone call and did not return, leading him to seek a divorce.
The wife disputed the allegations, contending that they shifted to a separate house due to problems caused by her in-laws over dowry. She also submitted that the husband did not visit their daughter after she was born. According to her, the divorce petition was filed only to deny her maintenance and enable him to remarry.
The court noted that the wife had not cooperated in the trial or subjected herself to cross-examination to controvert the husband's case.
The court further held that the wife, knowing that her husband was his parents' only son and responsible for caring for them, had unjustifiably pressured him to set up a separate residence, which amounted to cruelty. The court declined to interfere with the family court's order and dismissed the appeal.