The Bombay High Court has rejected a man’s application for divorce from his allegedly “frigid and psychologically impotent” wife because the couple’s marriage had “been consummated” and they “had a son.”
According to reports, justices AS Oka and Anuja Prabhudessai set aside a 2008 family court order that granted the couple divorce, which was primarily based on the man’s allegations of cruelty, desertion and psychological impotence against his wife. As for allegations and counter allegations of cruelty, the court said those asking for a divorce must prove they were “treated with such cruelty by their partners that continuing to live with them would be injurious to their lives.”
The matter came before the court after the wife denied all the allegations made against her by her husband . She said she had tried to mend her relationship with her husband but her efforts were never reciprocated.
The husband’s claim that his wife worked late-night shifts, insulted him and quarreled with him and his mother was dismissed by the court, which found that his allegations were “either trivial in nature or vague” and “therefore, inadequate for granting divorce.”
The Hindustan Times reported that since the wife had refuted every allegation levelled against her, the onus was on the husband to produce corroborative evidence to prove his claims. In the absence of any such evidence, the family court had erred in granting the divorce.