Chhattisgarh High Court grants divorce, says that taunting husband for unemployment amounts to mental cruelty

The Chhattisgarh High Court held that taunting a husband for unemployment and making unreasonable demands during financial hardship amounts to mental cruelty.

The Court granted divorce to the husband, overturning a family court’s dismissal of his petition under the Hindu Marriage Act.

It found the wife’s disrespect, verbal abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic, influence over their daughter against the husband, and desertion of the family to be mental harassment and desertion.

The wife’s absence and failure to rebut evidence strengthened the husband’s case. The court ruled that the marriage had irretrievably broken down and granted a divorce in the husband’s favour.

[Anil Kumar Sonmani v Smt. Shradha Tiwari]