Harassing Husband Publicly, Portraying Him As 'Womanizer' Extreme Cruelty: Delhi High Court Upholds Divorce

The Delhi High Court recently upheld divorce granted to a married couple on the ground of cruelty by the wife, observing that her act of harassing and humiliating the husband publicly and portraying him as a “womanizer” in his office is an act of extreme cruelty to him. A division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna observed that reckless, defamatory, humiliating and unsubstantiated allegations by one spouse, which has the impact of publicly tarnishing the image of the other, is nothing but acts of extreme cruelty. The court observed that the strongest pillars on which any marriage stands is trust, faith and respect, and thus, no person can reasonably be expected to put with such disrespectful conduct of their "significant other" who lacks faith in her partner. It added that any spouse not only expects their partner to respect them but also envisions that in times of need, such spouse would act as a shield to protect their image and reputation.“Unfortunately, here is a case where the husband himself is being publicly harassed, humiliated and verbally-attacked by his wife, who had gone to the extent of levelling allegation of infidelity during his office meetings in front of all his office staff/guests. She even took to harassing the woman workers of his office and left no stone unturned to portray him as a womanizer in the office. This behaviour is but an act of extreme cruelty to the respondent/husband,” the court said.The bench made the observations while dismissing the wife's appeal against a family court order which granted divorce on the ground of cruelty by her in a petition filed by the husband. “Any successful marriage is built on mutual respect and faith. If either is compromised beyond a level, the end of the relationship is inevitable as no relationship can stand on half-truth, half-lies, half-respect and half- faith,” the court observed. It said that the wife used the child as a weapon and totally alienated him from the husband. The court observed that such acts which happened in a span of about six years that the couple spent together, proved that the husband was subjected to cruelty and harassment which was sufficient to create mental agony and trauma in his mind to the extent that he at times even thought of committing suicide. “In the present case as well, the child has not only been totally alienated, but has also been used as a weapon against the father. Nothing can be more painful for a parent to see the child drifting away and being totally against the father. This assumes some significance in the light that the father never failed to provide as required for the child,” the court said. Title: X v. YCitation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 1337Click Here To Read Order

Harassing Husband Publicly, Portraying Him As 'Womanizer' Extreme Cruelty: Delhi High Court Upholds Divorce

Nupur Thapliyal

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