India / Why The High Court Had To Say Living With An Angry Wife Is Like Suffering

The Punjab-Haryana High Court has recently approved the divorce petition filed by the husband saying 'living with a psychopathic angry wife is like a lifelong torture' during the hearing of a case. The court said, 'Soon after filing the divorce case on behalf of the husband, the wife lodged an FIR regarding dowry, doing so shows her attitude.'

In the petition, the husband told that he is a resident of Amritsar and they were married in the year 2011. After a few days of marriage, his wife's angry attitude started coming to the fore and with time, his wife's anger increased. The petitioner told that after the birth of his daughter, the situation started getting worse.

First his wife refused to do household chores. Gradually she started slapping and insulting the petitioner and his family in public. Fed up with this act of the wife, when the petitioner filed for divorce, the wife lodged an FIR alleging that she had demanded dowry. After this there was an agreement between the two and the FIR was cancelled. While the family of the petitioner did not take any kind of dowry at the time of marriage.

However, even after the settlement, his wife's behavior did not change, and with time she became more and more cruel. One day she left the house without informing anyone and went to her maternal home. After which the petitioner again filed a petition for divorce and his wife once again filed a dowry case.

what did the wife say

On the other hand, the wife denied all these allegations leveled by the husband and said that the petitioner used to humiliate her for dowry. Apart from this, he also used to pressurize him to demand a share in his father's property.

What did the High Court say after hearing the arguments

During the hearing, the High Court heard the arguments of both the sides and said, 'Two doctors believe that doing this to the wife is a mental illness which is treatable but cannot be cured. Along with this, the court said that forcing the petitioner to live with such a psychotic and angry spouse would be torturing him throughout his life.

The judge said, 'It is cruelty to insult your husband and in-laws in front of everyone. On the other hand, registering an FIR for demanding dowry of his wife immediately after filing a divorce petition shows his double standards.

What is the provision on dowry law abuse

On an average, a woman dies every hour in the country due to dowry-related reasons, and between 2007 and 2011, a significant increase in such cases was observed. The rising violence against women, especially the youth, the rising incidents of newly married bride burning became a matter of concern for everyone.

It was felt that the general provisions of the IPC were not adequate to deal with atrocities against women. That's why section 498A was included in IPC. In such a situation, this law was considered as a protective shield for the daughters who were tortured for dowry.

But the misuse of this law also started. This started working as a weapon to scare the people of the groom's side. In such a situation, this law was changed from time to time.

What is the provision of punishment

According to senior advocate Aditya Kala, the offense under section 498A (abuse of dowry law) has been considered serious. There is a provision of up to three years of imprisonment if found guilty.