The Karnataka High Court recently said that wife insulting her husband by calling him dark-skinned and distancing herself from the company of her husband without any cause amounts to cruelty.
“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 is dark. And for the same reason has moved away from the company of the husband without any cause. And to cover up this aspect, has levelled false allegations of illicit relationships against the husband. These facts certainly will constitute cruelty,” the court said while granting the divorce to a 44-year-old man from his 41-year-old wife.
The court was dealing with an appeal filed by the husband against the decision of a family court in Bengaluru to dismiss his plea for the dissolution of his marriage under Section 13(i)(a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The husband had filed for divorce in 2012. In his plea, he said that the wife consistently demeaned him based on his skin color. Additionally, the husband said that in 2011, his wife lodged a false complaint against him and his family members, citing cruelty under Section 498A of the IPC.
The wife claimed that her husband had engaged in an extramarital affair with another woman. She also claimed that her husband had subjected her to physical abuse and that her treatment by his family was unsatisfactory.
The court, however, found that there was no acceptable evidence on record to accept the wife’s allegation that her husband was having an illicit relationship with another lady. The court, therefore, concluded that these allegations were reckless and baseless.
