Advocatetanmoy Judicial Dictionary

Repeated threats to commit suicide amounts to cruelty

It is well settled that giving repeated threats to commit suicide amounts to cruelty. When such a thing is repeated in the form of sign or gesture, no spouse can live peacefully. In the case on hand, the Appellant-husband has placed adequate materials to show that the Respondent-wife used to give repeated threats to commit suicide and once even tried to commit suicide by jumping from the terrace. Cruelty postulates a treatment of a spouse with such cruelty as to create reasonable apprehension in his mind that it would be harmful or injurious for him to live with the other party. The acts of the Respondent-wife are of such quality or magnitude and consequence as to cause pain, agony and suffering to the Appellant-husband which amounted to cruelty in matrimonial law. From the pleadings and evidence, the following instances of cruelty are specifically pleaded and stated. They are:

i. Giving repeated threats to commit suicide and even trying to commit suicide on one occasion by jumping from the terrace.

ii. Pushing the Appellant from the staircase resulting into fracture of his right forearm.

iii. Slapping the Appellant and assaulting him.

iv. Misbehaving with the colleagues and relatives of the Appellant causing humiliation and embarrassment to him.

v. Not attending to household chores and not even making food for the Appellant, leaving him to fend for himself.

vi. Not taking care of the baby.

vii. Insulting the parents of the Appellant and misbehaving with them.

viii. Forcing the Appellant to live separately from his parents.

ix. Causing nuisance to the landlord’s family of the Appellant, causing the said landlord to force the Appellant to vacate the premises.

x. Repeated fits of insanity, abnormal behaviour causing great mental tension to the Appellant.

xi. Always quarreling with the Appellant and abusing him.

xii. Always behaving in an abnormal manner and doing weird acts causing great mental cruelty to the Appellant.

 All these factual details culled out from the pleadings and evidence of both the parties clearly show the conduct of the Respondent-wife towards the Appellant-husband. With these acceptable facts and details, it cannot be concluded that the Appellant-husband has not made out a case of cruelty at the hands of the Respondent-wife. We are satisfied that the Appellant-husband had placed ample evidence on record that the Respondent-wife is suffering from “mental disorder” and due to her acts and conduct, she caused grave mental cruelty to him and it is not possible for the parties to live with each other, therefore, a decree of divorce deserves to be granted in favour of the Appellant-husband. In addition to the same, it was also brought to our notice that because of the abovementioned reasons, both Appellant-husband and the Respondent-wife are living separately for the last more than nine years. There is no possibility to unite the chain of marital life between the Appellant-husband and the Respondent-wife.

Refer: Supreme court in  Pankaj Mahajan Versus Dimple @ Kajal -JT 2011 (13) SC 50 : (2011) 11 SCALE 278

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1. Law of divorce
2. Breakdown of a marriage
3. Cruelty by wife
4. Grounds for divorce
5. Hindu Marriage
6. Mental cruelty