'Repeatedly threatening suicide amounts to cruelty', HC grants divorce to man

News Topical, Digital Desk : The Bombay High Court has granted divorce to a man, holding that repeated threats of suicide by a spouse amount to cruelty. A bench of Chief Justice Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad, in its order passed last week, said that when such conduct is repeated, it becomes impossible for the other spouse to continue the marital relationship.

The order was passed on a petition filed by the man challenging the 2019 order of the family court dismissing his application for divorce.

The couple had been living separately since 2012.

According to the petition, the man was married in 2006, but due to marital discord, he and his wife have been living separately since 2012. The man claimed that abandonment and suspicion, as well as threats and attempts to commit suicide, were grounds for granting him a divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act.

Threatening suicide by spouse amounts to cruelty: Court

In its order, the bench noted that the couple had been living separately for more than a decade and that neither amicable settlement nor reconciliation had been reached. The court noted that the husband had cited several instances of cruelty, but the family court did not consider them. The bench cited a Supreme Court decision that held that a spouse threatening suicide constitutes cruelty.

"When such behaviour is repeated repeatedly, whether through words, gestures or body language, it becomes impossible for the other spouse to continue the marital relationship in a peaceful atmosphere," the High Court said.

It is no longer possible for the couple to live together – Court

The court stated that the allegations of suspicion and the suicide attempt reflected the wife's behavior toward her husband. The High Court held that it was no longer possible for the couple to live together and therefore a divorce order should be granted.

The court granted the divorce

The high court said, "Continuing such a marriage would only increase the cruelty inflicted by both the parties on each other." While granting divorce to the man, the bench directed him to pay Rs 25 lakh as final settlement and transfer the ownership of two flats to the woman.

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