“The husband cannot be made to spend sleepless night fearing for his life,” said the Delhi High Court on Friday while upholding the decree of divorce granted to a man who accused his wife of “assassinating his character” and suspected her of performing “tantrik kriyas” (occult practices) with attempts to strangulate and stab him.
The Bench was hearing an appeal filed by a woman against the decree of divorce granted to her estranged husband, a teacher, by the family court in January on the grounds of “character assassination” and “threat to life”.
“We do not want to delve about motive behind such ‘tantrik kriyas’ or the intention behind keeping clove, cardamom and beetle nut under his pillow cover. The question to be decided is whether such acts by the wife constitute mental cruelty. We have unrebutted testimony of the husband that he is a non-smoker, teetotaller and was compelled to walk out of the house fearing threat to his life because of the ‘tantrik kriyas’ being performed by his wife. This is sufficient to create fear in his mind about his safety. The husband cannot be made to spend sleepless night fearing for his life,” said a Bench of Justices Pratibha Rani and Pradeep Nandrajog.
“The disgusting accusations made by the wife against the husband of he being in an illicit relationship, referring to him as a drunkard are serious in nature, assassinating his character and harming his reputation as a teacher. She has failed to prove any of the above, but is resisting the divorce, which, if accepted, would make life of the two even more complex and unbearable,” the Bench held. The man was 23 at the time of the marriage, while the woman was 18. Since she was not inclined to lead a rural life, the husband got a job as a teacher in Delhi. A son was born to them in 2003 and another in 2005.
The husband told the court that she always disrespected him, his family and guests. He saw her performing tantrik activities and she made an attempt to strangulate him with her hands.
He also stated that she also used to avoid physical relations and went on to accuse him of having an illicit relationship andbeing an “alcoholic”. This adversely affected his reputation in the family, so much so that he even thought of committing suicide. The woman told the Bench that she was a victim of dowry harassment but failed to prove any allegation.
