RAIPUR: “Repeated threats of suicide constitute cruelty,” Chhattisgarh high court has said, while granting divorce to a husband and dismissing the wife’s plea for restitution of conjugal rights.
“When such statements (suicide threats) are frequently made, no spouse can live peacefully. In this case, the husband has provided substantial evidence that the wife repeatedly threatened to commit suicide and even attempted to end her life by jumping off the roof. Cruelty is defined as behaviour towards a spouse that instils a reasonable apprehension that living with the other party would be harmful or detrimental. The wife’s actions were of such a nature and magnitude that they caused pain, suffering, and mental agony to the husband, amounting to cruelty under matrimonial law,” observed a division bench of Justice Rajani Dubey and Justice Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal, citing various SC judgments.
The court also directed the husband to pay Rs 5 lakh as permanent alimony to the wife.
The couple were married on Dec 28, 2015, but began living separately from Feb 2018. The husband sought divorce, while the wife sought reconciliation, alleging harassment by the husband.