The divorce of the doctor couple has been granted; the High Court termed the suspicion of infidelity as mental cruelty.

Bilaspur. Chhattisgarh High Court Justices Rajani Dubey and A.K. Prasad have stated that making serious allegations of infidelity against a spouse without concrete evidence amounts to mental cruelty. They deemed the allegations made by the doctor wife against her doctor husband as baseless. While granting the husband’s divorce petition, the court ordered him to pay Rs. 25 lakh as alimony to his wife. The couple, a doctor from Sarangarh and a woman from Bhilai, both doctors by profession, were married in 2008 in Raigarh. They had a daughter. However, their relationship soured after some time, and they have been living separately since 2014.

The husband alleged that shortly after their marriage, his wife’s behavior became increasingly abusive and suspicious. He claimed that her accusations of infidelity, repeated mental harassment, and actions that damaged his family’s reputation made their married life unbearable. He also alleged that his wife would pick fights over trivial matters, refused to wear sindoor (vermilion) or a mangalsutra (traditional wedding necklace), and even physically assaulted him. He claimed she mentally tortured him by making false accusations of infidelity. Based on these grounds, the husband filed for divorce in the Durg Family Court, which dismissed his petition.

The husband then challenged the Family Court’s order in the High Court. During the hearing, the court found that the wife, in her written statement, had made serious allegations that her husband was having an affair with another female doctor. The wife claimed that this woman forcibly entered their house and vandalized it. However, the High Court noted that the couple had gone to see a movie together in April 2019, and therefore, divorce could not be granted on the grounds of separation. But the High Court granted the divorce on the grounds of cruelty. Citing several Supreme Court judgments, the High Court stated that for an educated Indian wife to make baseless and unsubstantiated allegations of character assassination against her husband is the worst form of cruelty. The High Court held that the wife failed to prove the allegations of her husband’s extramarital affairs, which caused him mental anguish.