Wife calling husband ‘dark-skinned’ is cruelty: Karnataka High Court
The court observed this in a recent judgment while granting divorce to a 44-year-old man from his 41-year-old wife
The Karnataka High Court has in a case stated that the act of the wife humiliating her husband by calling him ‘dark-skinned’ amounts to cruelty and is a strong reason for giving divorce to the couple. The court observed this in a recent judgment while granting divorce to a 44-year-old man to his 41-year-old wife.
The evidence on record, from close scrutiny, also leads to the conclusion that the wife used to insult the husband on the premise that he was dark and, for the same reason, had moved away from the company of the husband without any cause, the court noted.
“To cover up this aspect, (she) has levelled false allegations of illicit relationships against the husband. These facts certainly will constitute cruelty,” the high court said while allowing the petition for dissolution of the marriage under Section 13(i)(a) of the Hindu Marriage Act.
The couple tied the knot in 2007 and later were blessed with a girl. In 2012, the husband approached a family court in Bengaluru, seeking a divorce. Following the family court’s rejection of the husband’s divorce plea in 2017, he pursued the matter in the high court. His appeal was heard by the division bench of Justices Alok Aradhe and Anant Ramanath Hegde, which gave the judgment.
The wife had also filed a case against the husband under section 498A (subjecting a married woman to cruelty) of the IPC, saying that he and his family were harassing her and subjecting her to cruelty. She also claimed that they were also demanding dowry from her and restricted her from going out of the house with her daughter. She had also filed cases under Domestic Violence Act against the husband and in-laws and left the child to live with her parents. She also contended that her husband was involved in an extra-marital affair.
Replying to this, Karnataka High Court said that the claim of the woman against her husband regarding his alleged illicit relationship with another woman was false and unsubstantiated and lacked any basis.
The Karnataka High Court during the appeal of the husband noted that, “It is the case of the husband where the wife used to humiliate him on the pretext that he is dark-skinned. He has further stated that the husband used to bear insult for the sake of the child”.
“It is further stated that the wife has not made any attempt to join the company of the husband to come back and the evidence on record would establish that she was not interested in the marriage because of the dark complexion of the husband,” the court observed while setting aside the family court order. “By referring to these contentions, it is urged that the family court ought to have granted a decree for the dissolution of marriage,” it noted.
