BENGALURU: It is not every day that a woman deposes against her son. In a divorce case involving a high-profile family, the mother’s deposition helped the daughter-in-law get `4 crore as alimony.
A family court in the city recently ordered Devanand Shivashankarappa Kashappanavar, son of former minister S R Kashappanavar, to pay a permanent alimony of `4 crore to his deserted wife (25). Devanand’s mother deposed against him saying he was rich enough to pay a handsome alimony to his wife.
K Bhagya, Additional Principal Judge, pronounced the order after granting decree of divorce to the petitioner (Devanand’s wife). The petitioner and Devanand tied the knot on May 22, 2011, at Ilkal in Hungund taluk of Bagalkot district. The judge said that Devanand should pay the amount to the petitioner within 60 days from this order dated July 24, 2017.
The judge pronounced the verdict after allowing the petition filed by Devanand’s wife under Section 13 (1)(ia)(ib) (cruelty and desertion) of the Hindu Marriage Act seeking decree of dissolution of her marriage.
Marriage with first cousin
The petitioner is Devanand’s niece (sister’s daughter). In her petition, she stated that Devanand married her against her wishes when she was still studying BBA. After marriage, she stayed in a joint family with her parents and in-laws and continued her education.
According to the petitioner, when the marriage was fixed, Devanand was not affectionate towards her. However, a few weeks prior to the wedding, he used to treat her with respect and spoke to her politely in front of the family members.
After the wedding, his attitude changed dramatically and he began to treat her like a stranger. A few months later, the petitioner found out that Devanand had an illicit affair and used to spend most of his time at his lover’s residence.
The petitioner said when she asked Devanand to stop seeing her, he assaulted her physically. Later, he married the other woman against law, saying he married the petitioner only to fulfil the last wish of his late father. She then decided to divorce him.
Devanand’s mother, who is also the petitioner’s grandmother, has been taking care of her since.
Crucial deposition
Devanand’s mother deposed against her son by filing an affidavit stating that he married another woman against the wishes of the family and even had a child with her. She said “Devanand has vast extent of lands, drives a Mercedes Benz SUV costing more than a crore, owns quarry business and is therefore well off. Without performing his marital obligations, Devanand deserted his wife.”
Considering this, the judge was of the view that if an amount of `4 crore was awarded as permanent alimony to the petitioner, justice would be met with.
Devanand did not appear before the court to contest the case despite a notice served to him.